IMPROVEMENTS IN DRILLS FOR SOWING SEED AND MANURE
Year: 1869

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Samuel William Campain at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18th February 1869.
I, SAMUEL WILLIAM CAMPAIN, of Deeping St. Nicholas, Spalding,
Lincoln, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN DRILLS FOR SOWING SEED AND MANURE," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in drills for sowing
seed and manure.
In sowing seed it is usual to pick up the grain in suitable quantities
by means of cups fixed on discs and arranged in such manner that as the
axis of the discs revolve the cups first dip into a receptacle containing
the grain, then lift up the quantity required, and as they pass over the
axis the cups drop the grain into funnels on either side of the disc, which
convey it to the furrows in which it is to be sown and which are
produced by the coulters of the machine, so that one disc carries the
cups to supply two coulters. When, however, it is desired to sow &
mixture of manure and seed cups cannot be used, as they rapidly become

page_text: filled by the manure, which is of an adhesive nature and sticks in them,
and the cups then cease to deliver.
Now according to my Invention I substitute for the cups on the discs
flat surfaces placed at such an angle as to lift the material upon them,
and also to admit of being scraped by a scraper suspended over the axis
of the disc. The angle of the lifters is such that the surfaces become
horizontal a short time after they rise above the level of the axis of the
disc. The material when it falls off these flat lifters drops into the
delivering funnels which lead it to the coulters as usual. There is a
scraper for each lifting disc, and it is a blade which over the axis of the
discs opposes itself to the flat lifting surfaces as they come round; it is
suspended from the top of the box containing the discs, and a weight is
applied to it to cause it to bear with sufficient force against the face of
the lifters. The scraper acts on the lifters on the two sides of the disc,
and a notch is made in it to allow it to overlap the edge of the disc on
either side a sufficient distance to operate efficiently on the lifters, and
the edge of the disc acts as a stop to prevent its falling too far. The
scraper comes first against the inner edge of each lifter, and as the lifter
moves on it drags over its surface, effectually cleaning it and dropping
the material removed into the delivering funnel. The scrapers are
effectually prevented from clogging by falling down suddenly against
the edge of the disc as each lifter passes. When the scraper has passed
one lifter it falls back ready to act similarly on the next.
In order to agitate the seed and manure in the reservoir in which it is
contained and to cause it to enter the receivers in which the lifting discs
work a horizontal bar with stirrers on it is employed, and this bar has a
to-and-fro movement given to it by a disc set in an oblique position on
the axis of the lifting discs, and this disc is embraced by a fork at the
end of the stirring bar. This bar has stirrers upon it projecting upwards
into the main hopper, and also others projecting down into the small
receivers in which the lifting discs work.