Improvements in Rotary Disc Ploughs.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Jan., 1898-Accepted, 19th Mar., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Rotary Disc Ploughs.
I, GEORGE FREDERICK REDFERN, of the Firm of G. F. Redfern & Co., The General
Patent Office, No. 4, South Street, Finsbury, in the County of London, Patent
Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communication to me by
Walter Chamberlain Peacock, of Equitable Buildings, Collins Street, Melbourne,
in the Colony of Victoria, Merchant), and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
This invention relates to what are known as rotary disc ploughs and its main
object is to provide simple and reliable contrivances which will enable ploughs of
this kind to be conveniently steered at the headlands as well as whilst in work,
in addition to enabling the depth of their cut to be regulated to requirements.
According to this invention the land wheel and the front furrow wheel of rotary
disc ploughs are carried on blocks arranged to slide vertically in guide brackets or
standards bolted or otherwise attached to the main frame and these vertically
sliding blocks are pivotally connected each to a lever fulcrummed at its forward end
to a link projecting upwardly from the main frame or other rigid support and said
adjusting levers are arranged to work alongside a quadrant rack and are each fitted
with a catch or pawl which can be drawn out of engagement with the teeth of said
quadrant rack when it is desired to operate the levers in order to adjust the depth
of the cut. At other times these catches or pawls serve to retain said levers in
position for maintaining any particular depth of cut required.
In order that the plough may be conveniently steered the vertical portions of the
bent spindles upon which the land wheel and the front furrow wheel respectively
are mounted are each fitted with a projecting arm the outer ends of which are
connected together by an extensible tie-bar whilst one or other of said arms is also
connected by an extensible rod to a steering lever also fitted with a pawl engaging
with the teeth of a quadrant rack located in a convenient position in front of the
driver's seat.
The seat support and the spindle of the back furrow wheel are locked together
in a very simple and inexpensive yet convenient manner.
Having now generally described the nature of this invention I will proceed to
explain it more particularly with the aid of the accompanying drawings in
which,
Figure 1 is a side elevation, and,-
Figure 2 a plan of a rotary disc plough fitted with my improvements, whilst,-
Figure 3 is a detail illustrating the method of connecting the seat support and
back furrow wheel spindle to the frame of the plough.
Figure 4 is a front elevation of one of the rotary discs with its supporting bracket
illustrating the application thereto of a scraper for removing any dirt which happens
to clog to it and a rake for levelling the surface of the ground and breaking up
any clods turned over by the plough.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts throughout.

page_text: A represents a vertical cast iron bracket which is bolted or otherwise secured to
each of the side bars B of the main frame of the plough. Each of these brackets
is constructed with undercut guides as indicated at a to receive a vertically sliding
block C provided with lugs C₁ through which the vertical portion D of the
spindles D D¹ carrying the land wheel E and the front furrow wheel E pass. Two
levers F F are pivotally connected as indicated at fflone to each of the vertically
sliding blocks C C and said levers are fulcrummed at their forward ends (as
indicated at 2) preferably upon the upper ends of the links f³ whose lower ends
are pivoted upon an arm projecting from each bracket A. It will be obvious
that by this means either of the blocks C carrying the land wheel and the front
furrow wheel can be raised or lowered as required and thus the depth of cut of the
plough can be regulated to a nicety.
In order to retain the levers F F in position to maintain any predetermined
depth of cut, they are fitted with spring or other retaining catches or pawls f
connected by rods fe to small hand levers f' on the rear ends of the levers F F¹ and
said spring catches or pawls are arranged to engage with the teeth of a pair of
quadrant racks f8 attached to or forming part of vertically sliding blocks C.
In order that the plough may be steered, forwardly projecting arins G G¹ are
rigidly secured upon the vertical portions F of the land and front furrow wheel
spindles respectively and the ends of said arms are connected together by an
extensible divided rod or tie-bar g whose length can be varied by means of bolts g¹
and holes g2 provided for that purpose in one or other of the lengths of said
divided rod. This construction enables the steering wheels E E¹; .e. the land
wheel and the front furrow wheel, to be set back into different positions upon the
triangular frame to alter the balance of the plough whenever so required as will be
well understood.
In order to allow the land and front furrow wheels E E¹ to be raised and lowered
relatively to each other and to provide for the varying directions of the steering
arins G G¹, the ends of the tie-bar g are formed with universal joints g³, one part
of the joint allowing for the vertical variation and the other for the horizontal
variation as will be readily understood.
One of the steering arms, preferably that attached to the land wheel spindle, is
constructed, as shown in Figure 2, with a second projecting arm h the end of which
is connected by another universal joint h¹ and an extensible connecting rod h² to a
steering lever H which is fulcrumined upon the bracket I carrying the foot board J
and seat support K. This steering lever is fitted with a hand operated catch
or pawl h³ engaging with the teeth of a quadrant rack h* mounted rigidly upon the
bracket I. The connecting rod h² is made extensible, as illustrated at h, in order
that its length may be varied to enable the catch or pawl h³ of the steering lever
to engage with one of the teeth of the quadrant h* when the steering wheels are in
a straight line with the travel of the plough.
It will be obvious that this steering gear can be applied to the front furrow
wheel in the same way as shown in connection with the land wheel and that either
said front furrow wheel or said land wheel can be steered singly instead of both
being operated simultaneously.
The spindle of the back furrow wheel L is bent at right angles, as illustrated in
Figure 2, and its forward end is formed with an eye, as indicated at 1, through
which a bolt is passed through lugs i on the bracket I. The seat support K is
bifurcated at its lower end as indicated at ¹ in Figure 3 and is passed through
the lugs ii of the bracket I, so that its lower bifurcated end fits over the front end
of the spindle 12 of the back furrow wheel L behind the eye thus locking said
spindle in position in a simple yet effective manner.
The foot board J rests, by preference, upon the lug i and is formed with lugs ¹
engaging the seat support K whereby it is held in position without the aid of bolts
or other expensive contrivances whilst the upward projection M on the back furrow
wheel spindle is to enable weights to be placed upon it if found necessary for the
purpose of holding the plough down when operating on hard ground.

page_text: If preferred scrapers N may be attached to the brackets or supports carrying the
rotary discs as illustrated in Figures 2 and 4 and a rake O may also be connected
to the same support and be fitted with either curved or straight teeth so that it will
level the ground turned over by the disc and break the clods of earth, thus in
many instances obviating the necessity for harrowing the land in order to prepare
it for the seed. This rake must be vertically adjustable to suit the depth of the cut
of the ploughing.
It will be obvious that if preferred the quadrant racks f8 might be secured to
the brackets A. instead of to the vertically sliding blocks C in which case the
contour of their toothed edges would have to be made to suit the travel of those
parts of the levers F F1 carrying the catches or pawls f5. Again another
modification would consist in pivotting the front ends of the levers F F¹¹ to fixed
fulcrums or supports instead of to the links f3 and then 6xing the quadrant
racks f8 either to the brackets A or to the frame B or to some other suitable
supports their toothed edges being shaped to the arcs of circles struck from said
fixed fulcrums whilst the levers would be formed with slots to receive the bolts
shown at projecting from the vertically sliding blocks C.
It will be evident to those skilled in the use of ploughs that the improvements
above described will greatly facilitate the handling of rotary disc ploughs it being
evident that the frame of the plough can be adjusted vertically upon either the
land wheel or the front furrow wheel as may be required for the purposes of
adjusting the depth of cut without interfering with the steering of said wheels. In
addition to this both of said wheels being coupled together and steered simultaneously
without interfering with the vertical adjustment of the plough is another decided
advantage which will readily commend itself to experts.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The herein described contrivances for steering rotary disc ploughs and
adjusting the depth of their cut consisting of the various parts constructed arranged
and operating substantially as and for the purposes herein described and explained
and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
2. In a rotary disc plough a land wheel (such as E) pivotally mounted (that is
so that it can be steered) upon a block (such as C) arranged to slide vertically in
guides in a bracket (such as A) secured to the main frame; in combination with a
hand lever (such as F¹) pivotally connected to said vertically sliding block, and
provided with a catch or pawl engaging with the teeth of a fixed quadrant the
whole being constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purposes herein
described and explained and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
3. In a rotary disc plough a front furrow wheel pivotally mounted (that is so
that it can be steered) upon a block (such as C) arranged to slide vertically in
guides in a bracket (such as A) secured to the main frame in combination with a
hand lever (such as F) pivotally connected to said vertically sliding block, and
provided with a catch or pawl engaging with the teeth of a fixed quadrant the
whole being constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purposes herein
described and explained and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
4. In a rotary disc plough, a land wheel and a front furrow wheel each pivotally
mounted (so that both wheels can be steered simultaneously) upon a block adjustable
vertically in guides in a bracket secured to the main frame, and having projecting
arms (such as G G¹) upon the vertical portions of the bent spindles of said land
and front furrow wheels connected together by a rod (such as g): in combination
with a steering lever (such as H) fulcrummed upon the main frame or other rigid
support and fitted with a catch engaging the teeth of a quadrant rack, substantially
as and for the purposes herein described and explained and as illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
5. In a rotary disc plough a land wheel pivotally mounted (that is so that it

page_text: can be steered) upon a block (such as C) arranged to slide vertically in guides in a
bracket (such as A) secured to the main frame and connected to a hand lever (such
as F) which is fulcrummed upon a link projecting upwardly from said main frame
or other rigid support and is provided with a hand operated retaining catch or
pawl engaging with teeth of a fixed quadrant; in combination with a steering
lever (such as H) fulcrummed upon the main frame or other rigid support, fitted
with a catch or pawl engaging the teeth of a quadrant rack and connected by a
rod (such as h³) to an arm projecting from the spindle of said land wheel, sub-
stantially as and for the purposes herein described and explained and as illustrated
in the accompanying drawings.
6. In a rotary disc plough a front furrow wheel pivotally mounted (that is so
that it can be steered) upon a block (such as C) arranged to slide vertically in
guides in a bracket (such as A) secured to the main frame and connected to a hand
lever (such as F) which is fulcrummed upon a link projecting upwardly from said
main frame or other rigid support and is provided with a hand operated retaining
catch or pawl engaging with teeth of a fixed quadrant; in combination with a
steering lever (such as H) fulcrummed upon the main frame or other rigid support,
fitted with a catch or pawl engaging the teeth of a quadrant rack and connected by
a rod (such as h²) to an arm projecting from the spindle of said front furrow wheel
substantially as and for the purposes herein described and explained.
7. In a rotary disc plough the bifurcated ended seat support in combination with
the bent spindle of the back furrow wheel said bifurcated end fitting over said
spindle behind an eye in the forward end thereof substantially as and for the
purposes herein described and explained and as illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
8. In a rotary disc plough, an extensible tie-bar (such as g) connecting steering
arms on the spindles of pivotally mounted land and front furrow wheels respectively
such tie-bar having a universal joint (such as 92) at each end substantially as and
for the purposes herein described and explained and as illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
9. In a rotary disc plough the combination with a rotary disc of a rake (such as O)
mounted so that it will act upon the soil turned over by said disc substantially
as and for the purposes herein described and explained and as illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
Dated this 17th day of January One thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.