IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Leonard Latter, of Leigh, near Tunbridge, in the
County of Kent, Farmer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PLOUGHS."
Sealed the 12th June 1863, and dated the 17th December 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Leonard Latter at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th December 1862.
I, LEONARD LATTER, of Leigh, near Tunbridge, in the County of Kent,.
Farmer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN PLOUGHS," to be as follows:-
The improvements relate to an adaptation or combination of parts particu-
larly adapted to ploughing up and down land without the necessity for turning
the plough at the completion of each furrow.
The operating parts of the plough, as the coulter, share, and mould plate,
are formed in duplicate, and pointing in opposite directions. The portion of
that part of each mould plate which in ploughs as generally arranged is the
hindermost and effects the turning over of the soil, is removed, and in lieu
thereof I employ a bar or plate capable of turning near one of its ends on an
axis of motion, and of being held in the required position to serve as a con-
tinuation of either mould plate, to effect the complete turning over of the furrow
slice. This bar or plate, at its outer end, carries cutters or seam pressers to
cut or pare off a portion of the furrow slice and allow it to fall into.the furrow

page_text: to receive the seed. The mould plates, from their junction with their shares,
rise quickly from near a horizontal to a vertical line, or nearly so, by which
advantage is gained, particularly in operating upon heavy land in completely
turning over the slice. The sole plate and other of each set of the operating
parts of the plough incline upwards slightly from the centre of the sole plate,
by which steadiness in working is obtained. The plough beam is similar at
both ends, and has two pairs of supporting or carrying wheels, arranged so that
when one pair is in operation the other pair may be out of operation. One of
each pair of wheels is intended to run in a furrow, the other on the land. The
draught is from the centre of the length of the combined plough by means of
a lever or bar, which is capable of turning on such centre for the action of
either set of working parts, and of being set as desired, one end of this lever
or bar being formed with handles for the use of the ploughman, and the other
for the attachment of the draught horses.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Leonard Latter in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th June 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LEONARD
LATTER, of Leigh, near Tunbridge, in the County of Kent, Farmer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Leonard Latter, Her special licence that I, the said Leonard
Latter, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Leonard Latter, 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 Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Leonard Latter, 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

page_text: 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 Leonard Latter, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
The improvements relate to an adaptation or combination of parts parti-
cularly adapted to ploughing up and down land without the necessity for
turning the plough at the completion of each furrow.
The operating parts of the plough, as the coulter, share, and mould plate,
are formed in duplicate and pointing in opposite directions. The portion of
that part of each mould plate which in ploughs as generally arranged is the
hindermost and effects the turning over of the soil, is removed, and in- lieu
thereof I employ a bar or plate capable of turning near one of its ends on an
axis of motion, and of being held in the required position to serve as a -con-
tinuation of either mould plate to effect the complete turning over of the
furrow slice. This bar or plate at its outer end carries cutters or seam pressers
to cut or pare off a portion of the furrow slice and allow it to fall into the
furrow to receive the seed. The mould plates, from their junction with their
shares, rise quickly from near a horizontal to a vertical line, or nearly 'so, by
which advantage is gained, particularly in operating upon heavy land, in
completely turning over the slice. The sole plate and other of each set of the
operating parts of the plough incline upwards slightly from the centre of the
sole plate, by which steadiness in working is obtained. The plough beam is
similar at both ends, and has two pairs of supporting or carrying wheels,
arranged so that when one pair is in operation the other pair may be out of
operation. One of each pair of wheels is intended to run in a furrow, the
other on the land. The draught is from the centre of the length of the com-
bined plough, by means of a lever or bar, which is capable of turning on such
centre for the action of either set of working parts and of being set as desired,
one end of this lever or bar being formed with handles for the use of the
ploughman and the other for the attachment of the draught horses.
But that my Invention may be better understood, I will proceed by the aid
of the accompanying Drawings more fully to describe the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.

page_text: a is the beam; b, b, are the coulters; c, c, the shares, all which are applied
in duplicate in order that the plough may be capable of operating when
drawn in either direction, as hereafter more fully explained; d, d, are the
mould plates, each of which, from its junction with the share on the land
side, rises quickly from nearly a horizontal line at (1) to a vertical line or
nearly so at (2), by which I find the advantage before referred to is obtained
in aiding the turning over of the slice, particularly in operating upon heavy
land. The upper part of each mould plate d is, at its junction with the other,
removed from (3) to (3), and the complete turning over of the soil as cut is
effected by means of a bar e, which is supported so as to be capable of turning
on an axis of motion e¹ in the following manner:-e are lugs projecting from
the inside of the plate e, and connected by a pin joint with the pin e', which
forms the axis of motion of the plate or bar e by that pin being passed into
and supported by a socket e² formed on a bracket carried by the under side
of the plough beam a as shown. The other end of the bar e is supported from
the arm e³ by a projection eo from one end of that arm, being received into a
socket e' in the plough beam, and the other end of the arm e carrying a pro-
jection es, the outer end e of which is received into the bracket e¹0 affixed to the
inside of the bar e. When the plough is required to travel in the opposite
direction to that indicated by the Drawing, the plate e will be turned on its
centre of motion e¹, and the other end thereof will be shifted so that it may be
supported by the arm e³ from a similar socket e in the opposite end of the
plough beam.
The bar e is somewhat rounded, so as to present a rounded
surface to the soil from about the point (4) backwards, as indicated by the
vertical section thereof at Figure 4, and it also carries the cutters or seam
pressers f, g, which, as the plough turns over the soil, act on the slice turned
over to pare off a portion thereof, so that such portion so cut off the slice may
fall into the furrow and form a bed to receive the seed as sown; h, h, is the
sole plate, one part of which inclines upwards from the other, as do other of
the working parts in duplicate, in order to free the land as much as possible of
any action thereon except by the parts of that set which for the time is in
operation; i, i, and j, j, are the carrying wheels, i, i, being those which run
in the furrow, and j, j, those which run on the land, and whilst one pair of
these wheels is in operation the other will be suspended out of operation.
The draught is from the centre of the combined plough by means of the bar k,
which is formed in two parts with a hinge joint at k', where it is also con-
nected to the stud l, which is capable of turning freely in the beam of the
plough, as shown, in order to facilitate the reversal of the direction of draught.
One end of this bar k is formed with an adjustable link m, the inner end m¹ of

page_text: which passes through and is capable of turning in a hole formed for it in the
bar k, whilst the other end of it is formed with a loop m² for attachment to
the draught horses, in order that the bar m may be held at various angles in
relation to the bar k, and it is capable of being adjusted and held by pins n to
suit the direction of draught desired. The other end of the bar k is formed
with a pair of handles by which the attendant directs and steadies the
plough when in operation; 0, 0, 0, 0, are pins standing up from the beam of
the plough to retain the parts of the bark steadily in position. When a furrow
has been cut along the side of the field, or to the extent desired, in one direction
by one of the coulters, together with the share and other parts working
together for that purpose, and it is desirable to bring into operation the other
set of such working instruments by traversing the plough in the opposite
direction, the attendant first lifts the end of the bar k by the handles k³, so
that the hook p of the bar p may take on to the bar and hold that end of
the bark up, when by depressing that end of the bar k, the opposite or
draught end thereof will be raised, and those parts may then assume the
position indicated by red lines in Figure 2 to facilitate their being turned
round on their centre of motion for drawing the plough in the opposite
direction.
Having thus described my said Invention, and means which I adopt in
carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood that I do not claim
the various mechanical parts separately considered; but what I do claim is
the adaptation or combination of means by which the working of double-ended
ploughs is facilitated, substantially as explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Leonard Latter, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
LEONARD LATTER. (L.S.)