IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF POTADO DIGGING MACHINES, THE APPLICATION OF RIDDLES THERETO, AND THE COMBINATION OF THESE IMPROVEMENTS WITH REAPING MACHINES, WHEREBY THE LATTER MAY BE READILY CONVERTED TO SERVE THE PURPOSE OF POTATO DIGGING MACHINES AND RECONVERTED TO THEIR ORIGINAL USE AS REQUIRED
Year: 1874

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to Charles Jameson Christic, of Westbank, Tranent,
in the County of Haddington, North Britain, Farmer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF POTADO DIGGING
MACHINES, THE APPLICATION OF RIDDLES THERETO, AND THE COMBINATION OF
THESE IMPROVEMENTS WITH REAPING MACHINES, WHEREBY THE LATTER MAY
BE READILY CONVERTED TO SERVE THE PURPOSE OF POTATO DIGGING MACHINES
AND RECONVERTED TO THEIR ORIGINAL USE AS REQUIRED."
ealed the 15th December 1874, and dated the 3rd October 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Jameson
Christic at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 3rd October 1874.
I, CHARLES JAMESON CHRISTIE, of Westbank, Tranent, in the County
5 of Haddington, North Britain, Farmer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF POTATO DIGGING
MACHINES, THE APPLICATION OF RIDDLES THERETO, AND THE COMBINATION OF THESE
IMPROVEMENTS WITH REAPING MACHINES, WHEREBY THE LATTER MAY BE READILY

page_text: CONVERTED TO SERVE THE PURPOSE OF POTATO DIGGING MACHINES AND RECONVERTED
TO THEIR ORIGINAL USE AS REQUIRED," to be as follows, that is to say :—
This Invention, which relates to improvements in potato digging
machines, the application of riddles thereto, and their combination with
reaping machines, has for its object, first, to effect the lifting and
recovery of the crop of potatoes more completely and more rapidly than
obtains with existing machines; and, second, to effect economy by
constituting one machine as a combined potato digger and reaping
machine.
Instead of employing one share only, whereby one drill or row alone 1
can be lifted or ploughed at once, two shares are used placed abreast,
and so attached to the framing of the machine as to operate on two
drills or rows at once; double the quantity of tubers are thus unearthed
at the same time.
In order to properly guide or steer the machine, gear similar to that
used in guiding or steering double ploughs is applied.
The tubers after being raised by the shares are caused to pass to
iddles or shakers suspended by suitable connections from the framing of
tiíe machine, and by the vibratory motion imparted to the said riddles
or shakers by means of gear similar to that employed in reaping a
machines they are cleansed from any adhering earth and sifted there-
from. The said riddles or shakers are preferably made in an undulating
form with the ridges running horizontally, that is to say, in the direction
of the ploughing or lifting, and are so held as to incline towards cach
other at their extreme rear so as to discharge the tubers obtained from
two drills into one row, whereby the gathering of them is facilitated.
The riddles or shakers have their front ends below the level of the back
of the shares, and so become slightly buried in the loose earth raised by
the shares; and any stray tubers which may be covered over by the
loose carth upturned by the shares are caught up by them. The earth
which passes on to the riddles or shakers with the tubers is discharged
through the interstices of the bars which compose them, and the tubers
fall from the rear of the riddles or shakers completely exposed to view.
The said riddles or shakers are attached at the front by bars or rods,
whose upper ends are secured to the framing of the machine by pivotted
joints. At the rear they are held by rods or bars of similar form to
those applied to the front, attached at their lower ends to the ouside

page_text: corners of the riddles or shakers, or other suitable place thereon, and
engaging with their upper ends cranks formed on the ends of shafts
which pass along the machine, and are actuated by toothed gear situate
towards the front of the machine, which correspond to the toothed gear
of reaping machines. A partly vertical and horizontal vibratory motion
is thus imparted to the riddles or shakers.
In order to convert a reaping machine into a potato digging machine,
such as is herein specified, it is only necessary to detach the knives and
knife frames from the machine, and attach in their places the crank
shafts which engage the connecting rods at the rear of the riddles or
shakers, to make the other connections with the riddles or shakers, and to
attach the shares or coulters to the framing, as herein-before described,
the transverse motion for the knives being altered to the vertical to suit
the riddles or shakers by changing the position of the connecting rod
from a transverse to a vertical position..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Jameson Christie in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 2nd April 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
JAMESON CHRISTIE, of Westbank, Tranent, in the County of Haddington,
North Britain, Farmer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the 38th
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Charles Jameson Christie, Her special
license, that I, the said Charles Jameson Christie, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles
Jameson Christie, my executors, administrators, or 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
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF POTATO DIGGING

page_text: MACHINES, THE APPLICATION OF RIDDLES THERETO, AND THE COMBINATION OF THESE
IMPROVEMENTS WITH REAPING MACHINES, WHEREBY THE LATTER MAY BE READILY
CONVERTED TO SERVE THE PURPOSE OF POTATO DIGGING MACHINES AND RECONVERTED
TO THEIR ORIGINAL USE AS REQUIRED," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Charles Jameson Christie, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and scal, 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 Charles Jameson Christie, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon, ]
that is to say:-
My said Invention, which relates to improvements in potato digging
machines, has for its objects, first, to effect the lifting and recovery of
the crop of potatoes more completely and more rapidly than obtains
with existing machines; and, second, to effect economy by constituting 2
one machine as a combined potato digging and reaping machine.
Instead of employing one share only, whereby one drill or row alone
can be lifted or ploughed at once, two shares placed abreast are used,
and these are so attached to the framing of the machine as to operate
simultaneously on two drills or rows of tubers. By this means double 2
the quantity of tubers are unearthed in the same time as compared with
machines in which one share only is used.
In order to properly guide or steer the machine, gear similar to that
used in guiding or steering double-furrow ploughs is employed.
The tubers after being raised by the shares are caused to pass to 8
riddles or shakers suspended by suitable connections from the framing of
the machine, and by vibrating which, by means of gear similar to that
employed in reaping machines, the tubers are cleansed from any
adhering earth and sifted therefrom.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood I 3
now proceed more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or manner

page_text: in or under which the same is or.may be used or practically carried into
effect, reference being had to the annexed Sheet of Drawings and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :—
Figure 1 on the appended Sheet of Drawings represents a side
elevation of my improved potato digging machine, and Figures 2 and 3
are respectively a plan and end elevation of the same:
The framing A, which is constructed of wood baulks or beams of
similar form to those used in the framings of reaping machines, carries
the axle B of the driving wheels C, C', which are placed sufficiently apart
to enclose between them two drills or rows of potatoes, as seen moro
particularly at Figure 3. On the inner sides of the driving wheels C, C¹,
and attached to the arms thereof spur wheels E, E¹ are placed, which
gear into pinions F, F', keyed on the transverse shaft G carried in
bearings on the framing A. On the shaft G bevil wheels g, g¹ are also
secured which gear into the bevil pinions h, h³, carried on the ends of
the longitudinal shafts H, H', working in bearings supported in
brackets I, I, attached to the framing A. The outer ends of the
shafts H, H', are provided with cranks or discs K, K', and connecting
rods L, L', depending vertically therefrom are pivotted at their lower
ends to rods M, M', passing underneath the machine and connected at
the front to riddles N, N¹, fixed to the back of the shares O, O¹. These
shares O, O¹, may obviously be constructed of any suitable form appli-
cable to ploughs or potato diggers, and they are so placed and held by
the struts or supports o, o¹, attached to the framing of the machine as to
act each upon a separate drill or row of potatoes. The riddles N, N³, are
formed of rods or bars, which are pivotted at the back of the shares or
mould boards O, O¹, and vibrate vertically, and are inclined towards
cach other and towards the centre of the machine, as shewn at Figures 2
and 3.
Upon the motion of the driving wheels C, C', in traversing the
machine the transverse shaft G is rotated by the toothed gear E, E',
and F, F, and the longitudinal shafts H, H¹, are also caused to revolve
by means of the bevil gear g, g¹, and h, h¹. The cranks or discs K, K¹,
are thereby rotated, and these latter vibrate the riddles N, N¹, through a
vertical arc by means of the rods L, L³, and links M, M', connected to
the riddles or shakers, as herein-before described and shewn. As the
tubers are raised by the shares O, O', they pass to the said riddles or

page_text: shakers, by which they are sifted from adhering earth, and are there-
after delivered into the furrow between two rows or drills, from whence
they may be readily gathered up. The loss arising from the burying of
the tubers in the loose earth upturned by the shares is thus reduced to a
minimum, and the contents of two drills are unearthed and discharged 5
into one furrow or row in less time than is occupied by potato digging
machines as hitherto constructed.
The machine is drawn by three horses, which are placed abreast, so
that each horse travels in a space between two rows or drills.
The machine is provided with raising and lowering gear of any well- 1
known type, and it is guided in the manner usually adopted in guiding.
double-furrow ploughs, and as the working parts of the machine are in
every respect similar to those employed in reaping machines it is only
necessary in order to convert the digging machine into a reaper to lay
aside those parts constituting the left half of the machine, to reverse 1
the longitudinal shaft H' in the other half, and to so connect the crank
or disc K¹ thereon with the knives or cutters as to change the vertical
motion of the riddles or shakers to the usual horizontal or reciprocal
motion imparted to the knives or cutters of reaping machines.
In lieu of reversing the position of the shaft H the pole may bo
removed to the opposite end of the machine, and one set of gearing
retained in the position shown in the Drawing, the riddles N, N₁, and
their connections being detached.
It is preferred to construct the knives applied to the combined potato
digging and reaping machine in such a manner that they are caused to
work over or upon a continuous steel blade instead of over a separate
piece of steel attached to each finger as in ordinary arrangements of
reaping machines.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the system, mode, or manner in or under which the a
same is or may be used, or practically carried into effect, I would
observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original and
therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in
part recited Letters Patent is,—
First. Providing potato digging machines with two shares or mould
boards, whereby they are enabled to operate upon two drills or rows of
potatoes simultaneously, substantially as herein-before described.

page_text: CHA³. J. CHRISTIE. (L.S.)