IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR PLOUGHING OR TILLING LAND BY STEAM POWER
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Fowler, junior, of Leeds, in the County of
York, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR
PLOUGHING OR TILLING LAND BY STEAM POWER."
Sealed the 13th December 1861, and dated the 25th June 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Fowler at the Office-
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th June
1861.
I, JOHN FOWLER, junior, of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer, do
hereby declare that the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINES FOR PLOUGHING OR TILLING LAND BY STEAM POWER," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machines for ploughing or
tilling land by steam power:
In ploughing or tilling land by steam power it is common to mount the
pullies round which the hauling rope passes on carriages carried by disc
wheels, which cut into the land, and thus prevent the carriage being drawn
sideways by the strain on the rope, but allow of its travelling endways with
considerable facility. In some cases, also, in place of disc wheels metal plates
or coulters, also cutting into the land, have been employed; the pulley
carriages thus arranged can only with facility be made to travel forward in a
straight line. According to my Invention I so arrange the disc wheels of

page_text: coulters that they may be set at an inclination to the carriage either to the one
side or to the other, so as to cause the carriage to travel in any required
direction. This power of steering the pulley carriage is very necessary
the headland along which it is required to travel is curved.
when
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Fowler in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th
December 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
FOWLER, jun., of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Fowler, Her special licence that I, the said John Fowler, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Fowler, 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 Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINES POR PLOUGHING OR TILLING LAND BY STEAM POWER,"
upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Fowler, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 John Fowler, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for ploughing
or tilling land by steam power.
In ploughing or tilling land by steam power it is common to mount the
pullies round which the hauling rope passes on carriages carried by disc wheels
which cut into the land, and thus prevent the carriage being drawn sideways
'

page_text: by the strain on the rope, but allow of its travelling endways with considerable:
facility. In some cases, also, in place of disc wheels, metal plates or shares,
also cutting into the land, have been employed; the pulley carriages thus
arranged can only with facility be made to travel forward in a straight line.
According to my Invention I so arrange the disc wheels or coulters that they.
may be set at an inclination to the carriage either to the one side or to the
other; so as to cause the carriage to travel in any required direction.. This
power of steering the pulley carriage is very necessary when the headland.
along which it is required to travel is curved.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood, and.
along which it is required to travel is curved.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood, and.
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto.
annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is an elevation, and Figure 2 a plan, of a pulley carriage con-
structed according to my Invention. a, a, is a platform of wrought iron; it is`
carried by four disc wheels, two of them, viz., those marked b, b, are capable of.
locking or turning about vertical axes; the other wheels c, c, have not. this.
power; these latter are mounted so as to rotate freely on. studs fixed. hori-
zontally in the cast-iron bracket d, d, bolted to the platform a.. The disc
wheels c, c, also turn on studs, but these are formed at the lower ends of the.
vertical axes e, e, which are carried in bearings f, f, bolted to the platform a..
On the upper ends of the axes e, e, quadrants 9, 9, are fixed, and these have
teeth formed on them, into which worms h, h, gear; these worms are mounted
on an axis i, which is made square at each end to receive a crank handle; and
it will be seen that by turning the crank handle so applied to the axis, the two
wheels b, b, may be set to any desired inclination to the wheels c, c, but the
wheels b, b, will incline in opposite directions; the worms h, h, being right and
left handed, as the Drawing shews; the pulley carriage then as it travels
forward will move in a circle, and the planes in which the wheels 6, 6, for the
time being lay will be tangential to this circle. In the centre of the platform a,
a cast-iron standard is fixed; this standard is hollow, and the axis k passes
úp through it. is a pulley on the axis k; round this pulley the hauling
rope passes. The wheelwork above the platform is for the purpose of moving
the carriage forward; it forms no part of the present Invention. I will,
however, shortly describe its action. m is a pinion, mounted loosely on the
axis k; and m³ is a cylinder cast in one piece with it; n is an arm fixed on
the upper end of the axis k, and carrying the metal strap o, passing around the
cylinder m¹; p is a tightening screw and hand wheel, by means of which the

page_text: strap o may be made to nip the cylinder 'm'; q and r are intermediate wheels,
fixed to each other, and turning on a stud carried by the standards; they gear
with the spur wheel t, formed on the flange of the drum u, which turns on the
standard j. A rope is wound on the drum u, and the end of the rope is made
fast to an anchor or post ahead, when the screw p is screwed up tight, and the
pulley revolves in consequence of the hauling rope passing over it, the drum u.
will be driven and wind the carriage forward. By slacking the screw p, the
motion of the carriage is arrested. It will be observed that there is a roller v
mounted on the same stud as the disc wheel, which is included in the loop of
the hauling rope; this is for the purpose of preventing this disc wheel sinking
too deeply into the land, as the strain on the bauling rope might otherwise
cause it to do. In Figure 1 a roller is shewn applied to the other side of the
pulley carriage; such rollers are employed when the soil is so light as to
render them necessary..
. Although it is preferred to mount the pulley carriage on disc wheels it may
be mounted on metal plates or shares, and the plates or shares are then
arranged to lock round in the same manner as the disc wheels. Figure 3 is a
side view, and Figure 4 a front view, of a plate or share so applied, with the
parts connected therewith. As in Figures 1 and 2, a is the platform; f, a
bearing bolted thereto, and carrying the axis e, on the lower end of which is
mounted the coulter w, and on the upper the toothed quadrant 9, gearing with
the worm h on the axis i.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Fowler, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
JOHN FOWLED
JOHN FOWLER, JUN. (LD.)