A NEW AND IMPROVED SELF-ACTING MACHINERY FOR SOWING POTATOES
Year: 1873

page_text: · LETTERS PATENT to Henri Adrien Bonneville, of the British and
Foreign Patent Offices, 18, Rue de la Chaussée d'Antin, Paris,
France, and 6, Piccadilly, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agent, for the Invention of "A NEW AND IMPROVED SELF-ACTING
MACHINERY FOR SOWING POTATOES."-A communication from Louis
:: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Henri Adrien' Bonneville
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 8th September 1873, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
"
5 TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRI
ADRIEN BONNEVILLE, of the British and Foreign Patent Offices, 18,
Rue de la Chaussée d'Antin, Paris, France, and 6, Piccadilly, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.

page_text: ">
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "A NEW AND
IMPROVED SELF-ACTING MACHINERY FOR SOWING POTATOES," communicated to
me by Louis Adrien Couteau, a person resident at Leonville, Franco,
Agricultor, and have petitioned Her Majesty grant unto me, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for
the same, and made solemn Declaration that it is a communication...
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henri Adrien Bonneville, do hereby
declare that the following Completo Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the Invention, and
the manner in which the samo is to be performed, reference being had
to the accompanying Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked'
thereon, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to a self-acting machinery for sowing potatoes,
represented in the annexed, Drawings, Fig. 1 of which is a front view of
the fore end; Fig. 2, a side elevation; Fig. 3, an elevation of the
opposite side; and Fig. 4 a plan view from above. Corresponding parts
are indicated by the same letters of reference.
This machinery is composed of two superposed frames a, b, mounted
on four ordinary road wheels c. The ploughshare d, which forms the
furrow is suspended on an articulated bar e hinged to the upper-
extremity of an upright, which is mounted on a horizontal shaft g
extending towards one side of the framework. This shaft is operated by
a lever h, by means of which a rotatory motion is imparted to it in order
to raise or lower the ploughshare. A cross piece i articulated to the
bar e and the upright ƒ keeps them always at the same distance from.
each other, so that the bar remains always perpendicular and the
ploughshare retains its horizontal position. Two segments guides j
parallel to each other are mounted on the frame a, and between them
move the bar e and the upright f; these guides serve to fix the
clevation of the ploughshare by means of a peg passed behind the bar e
through holes formed for the purposo in tho two segments guides.
The ploughshare may thus be lowered more or less in order to trace a
furrow of greater or less depth.
Behind and at each side of the framework a two ploughshares k throw
back the earth into the furrow to cover the potatoes as fast as they
are sowed. These ploughshares are suspended to bars passing
through slides in the sole bars of the framework, and articulated to

page_text: levers m fulcrumed at n on the sole bars. These levers work between
parallel segments o, having holes through which a pcg is passed in
order to hold the ploughshares more or less raised from the earth's
surface.
The upper frame 6 carries the apparatus intended for the self-acting
and gradual distribution of the potatoes. These laters are placed in a
recipient p which moves on grooved rollers a running on projecting
flanges on the upper part of the framework b. The bottom of this
recipient p is formed of a cloth r resting on a series of rollers 8, the
ends of which turn in bearings placed on the frame 6; one end of this
cloth is fixed behind the recipient p, while the other end is rolled around
a shaft placed under the recipient. This shaft is turned round, so
that the cloth being rolled round it draws the recipient forward very
slowly beyond the bearing rollers s. The cloth forming the bottom of
the recipient being thus removed the potatoes fall sücessively out to the
inclined planet. The front side of the recipient is inclined in order
to avoid too large a supply of potatoes being thrown out when the
apparatus begins to work.
The inclined plane u is composed of bars or rods placed some distance
apart, mounted in a framework. To enable the potatoes to slide on
this inclined plane it is suspended by its four corners by means of four
steel springs v, and receives a forward and backward motion in a
longitudinal direction by means of projections formed on a rotating
shaft x, which successively strike against another projection on the
framework and two reacting spiral springs y placed on each side, their
ends being fixed to the framework 6 and to the framing of the inclined
plane. Between the bars of the inclined plane pass wings or fingers
mounted on the shaft x, which push the potatoes towards the lower
part of the inclined plane, and excentrics working for the same purpose
and mounted on another rotating shaft holds them besides against
the raising apparatus, which will be described hereafter..
The said raising apparatus is composed of disks a¹ mounted on a rotating
shaft 6¹ at equal intervals, between which are lodged the loose ends of
the bars forming the inclined plan u. These disks are provided three
by three throughout their circumference with curved points or hooks c²,
each set of three lifting successively a potato, which during its
ascension is lodged in a cavity formed in the central disk of the set
opposite the points.

page_text: By the rotation of the disk the potatoes are thrown one by one into
a funnel, the lower end of which is closed by a hinged valve c'
opening at equal intervals to allow the potato to fall by means of a
crank lever f¹ operated by projections g¹ on the face of a toothed wheel
keyed to one end of the rotating shaft . All the organs of the
machinery are operated by means of one of the hind road wheels. On
the hub of this wheel is keyed a toothed wheel ', which gears with a
toothed wheel ¹ keyed on one end of the shaft 6¹ carrying the disks,
which transmits the rotating motion by the intermediate pinion j¹ to the
toothed wheel keyed on one end of the shaft
carrying the
excentrics; a pinion l' mounted on the same end of the shaft transmits
by means of the endless chain m¹ its motion through the toothed
wheel n¹ to the shaft which rolls up the cloth. At the other end of
the shaft is keyed a toothed wheel n', which by means of an endless
chain o transmits motion to a.pinion p¹ keyed to the winged shaft x.
2
..In order to stop the forward motion of the recipient p at the end of
its course the pinion mounted loose on the shaft is provided inside
with a toothed coupling box, which gears with a counter part on the.
hub of the toothed wheel. This coupling box is held in gear by the
lower check end of a rod q¹ pivoting on the frame b, and its motion is
thus identic with that of the shaft z. When the end of the recipient
arrives opposite this rod the end of the latter meets a rod r¹ on the sido
of the recipient, the rod q' oscillates on its pivot, so as to disengage the
pinion A, which is removed from the toothed wheel k³, under the action
of a spring s² placed between them, the coupling box is thrown out of
gear and the recipient remains stationary. The motion of the whole
machinery is stopped by raising in its slide bearing the toothed wheel
by means of the lever t¹.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner of carrying it into effect, I would have it understood that I
do not confine myself to the precise details above enumerated, as theso
may obviously be modified without departing from the principle of the
Invention, but what I claim is,—
1stly. The novel combination of the moveable recipient p, the cloth »,
the inclined plan u, the rotating shaft with wings x, the rotating shaft
with excentrics, the rotating disks a', and the funnel d', with,
intermittent opening, all working together, substantially in the manner
and for the purpose described.

page_text: 2ndly. The moveable recipient p, with the cloth r, constructed as
described, in combination with the inclined plans, the rotating winged
shaft, the rotating shaft with excentrics, the rotating shaft b¹ with
disks a³, and the funnel a, constructed arranged and operating
substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
3dly. The ploughshare d, in combination with the bar e, the
upright, the shaft 9, the lever h, the cross piece i, the segments j,
and the ploughshares k, the bars 1, the levers m, the segments o,
substantially as described, and for the purposes specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henri Adrien Bonneville, have hereto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.