IMPROVEMENTS IN IMPLEMENTS FOR PLOUGHING LAND AND CLEARING LAND OF WEEDS
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
HAMMOND BENTALL of Heybridge, in the County of Essex, Ironfounder,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twenty-third day of July, in the tenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Edward Hammond Bentall, Her especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said Edward Hammond Bentall, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Edward
Hammond Bentall, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN IMPLEMENTS FOR PLOUGHING LAND
AND CLEARING LAND OF WEEDS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso, obliging me, the said Edward Hammond Bentall, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and scal, particularly to describe and
ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Edward Hammond Bentall, do hereby declare that the nature of my said

page_text: Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention of Improvements in Implements for Ploughing Land and
Clearing Land of Weeds consists, firstly, of improvements in the ordinary
plough, whereby I am enabled to attach the share to the spit without a bolt
or screw; and by my improved mode of securing the mould board or breast
of the plough, I am enabled to adjust the same to suit the depth and width of
the furrow with greater facility than by the ordinary method.
A further improvement in the ordinary plough is a peculiar mode of
mounting the guide wheels.
My Invention consists, secondly, in certain improved arrangements of shares
and blades or knives combined with a forward point, which is intended to enter
the ground and keep such shares and blades or knives up to their work when
the implement is required to cut up hard ground, or is employed for subsoil
ploughing. This forward point acts also as a guide, and prevents the plough
from swaying to the right or left and producing crooked furrows.
Thirdly, my Invention consists in so attaching the wooden and metal beams
of ploughs to the frame, that any ploughman may readily adjust the beam either
to the near side or off side, or raise or depress the beam, to make the plough
work more or less free, as required.
In the accompanying Drawing, Figure 1 represents, in elevation, an ordinary
plough with my improvements applied thereto; and Figure 2 is a plan view
of the same. a, a, is the frame of the plough, attached to the beam 6 in the
ordinary way; c, c, is the mould board or breast, affixed at its upper part by an
adjustable weigh pin d and screw to the frame a, and provided at its lower
extremity with a knob or projection, which is inserted into a hole or socket in
the spite of the frame that carries the share f. By referring to Figure 2 and
the detached view Figure 2*, it will be seen that the adjustable weigh pin d
consists of two parts, one part being bolted to the breast and the other to the
frame; that part which is fixed to the frame is provided with an eye bolt to
receive the end of the pin which is fixed to the breast, and by means of a nut
on its upper end this eye bolt is made to hold the pin securely in its place.
Figures 3 represent, in plan, edge views, and section, my improved share
detached; this share, it will be seen, is provided with flanges 1, 1, which form
a socket to receive the spit, and there is a lip 2 to this socket which covers
the end of the spit. Through this lip, and also through the end of the spit, a
hole is made for the insertion of a peg, which is intended to hold the share on

page_text: the spit without any other fastening.
The socket of this share is some-
what similar to a shoe, for it is so constructed that the bottom or sole 3 of
the socket shall protect the spit from the wear it might otherwise be subject
to in passing through the soil. At Figs. 4 the share is shewn as attached
to the spit e, and the knob 4, at the end of the breast or mould board
is shewn. This knob is inserted into the hole 5 of the spit, and when the
weigh pin d (which constitutes together with the knob, the only fastening for
holding the breast in its place) is required to be adjusted to move the breast
to its proper inclination, the breast will rock sufficiently in its socket in the
spite to allow of such adjustment, whereby great simplicity is attained in fixing
the breasts of ploughs. In order to prevent the mould board or breast from
raising out of its socket, the lip 2 is made to partially cover the socket hole 5
(see Figure 4), and thereby abut upon the end of the breast when the share is
fixed on the spit.
-
The novel mode of mounting the guide wheels of the plough is shewn
at Figures 5 and 6, and also at Figures 1 and 2. h is a block, attached
by a cross bar i to the beam in the following manner:-The bar i passes
through the beam and through the stay k, that assists in supporting the
head of the plough, and also through an eye bolt 6, which, passing through
the middle of the block h, is attached thereto by a nut at its upper end.
In this block h, and on either side of the eye bolt 6,
hole is made to
insert other eye bolts 7, 7, which are intended to receive the horizontal
bars 8, 8, provided respectively at one end with socket pieces, and when the
eye bolts 7 are screwed up by their nuts, these bars will be firmly secured
to the block h. In the socket pieces of the bars 8, vertical bars 9 (which
at their lower end carry the guide wells, and at their upper end the scrapers
for those wheels,) are secured by screws. When the head of the plough is
required to be depressed, these screws are loosened and the socket pieces are
slidden down the vertical bars 9 to the desired distance; the screws are then
tightened, and the plough is ready for use; but if one or both of the guide
wheels are required to be moved laterally, this may be done by loosening the
nuts of the eye bolts 7, and then the horizontal bars 8 may be adjusted at
pleasure. The scrapers, it will be seen, in either case will retain their proper
position over the wheels. By this arrangement, it will be evident that the guide
wheels may be easily dismounted and removed when not required to be used;
for to effect this, it is only necessary to unscrew the nut on the eye bolt 6.
The second part of my Invention, which consists in certain arrangements for
producing a subsoil and broad-share plough, is shewn in elevation at Figure 7,
and in plan view in Figure 8. a, a, is the frame attached to the beam b, which

page_text: carries the head and handles of the plough; c, c, are arms, attached on each
side of the beam by bolts, and intended to carry the broad shares d, d. To
these arms are also affixed brackets e, e, provided with slots to receive vertical
bars, in the lower ends of which the wheels f,f, are mounted. At the forward
end of the frame a a subsoil point g is affixed, which point is intended to enter
the ground at any required depth, and keep the broad shares or other cutting
edges steady to their work. The broad shares d, d, are similarly provided with
forward points, which loosen the earth and allow the shares to enter more
readily, as will be well understood. At the back part of the frame a a broad
share his bolted. This share is seen best in the detached view at Figure 9,
which represents the frame in sectional plan view, with the subsoil point 9 also
attached, and through the frame a, at about the middle of its length, two slots
are formed at different heights to receive two horizontal blades or knives i, i,
which are secured in their places by wedges, and are employed only when the
plough is used for subsoiling. The arrangement of the implement when this
operation of subsoiling is required to be effected is as follows:-The arms c, c,
with the broad shares d, d, and the wheels f, f, are removed by unscrewing the
nuts that attach the arms c to the beam; and in place of the broad share h, a
share, the ends of which project the same distance as the blades i, i, is affixed
to the frame a. The subsoil point 9 first enters the ground, and cuts the
lowest depth; the share & then cuts the earth at about three inches above the
subsoil point g, and the blades i, i, take the earth at about three and six inches
respectively above the share h. By this means, with an implement of the
ordinary size, subsoiling from about nine to twelve inches may be readily
effected. In some cases it may be necessary to remove one of the blades i
when the draught is too great, either from the dryness or wetness of the soil.
This, however, must be left to the judgment of the ploughman, and the length
of the blades may be also greatly varied, for in light soils they may be used,
say, twelve inches long, although for the ordinary kinds of land a length of six
inches may be considered suflicient. When this improved arrangement of
plough is required for clearing the land of weeds, or of stubble after harvest, I
remove the blades i, i, by knocking out the wedges, and attach the arms c, c,
shares d, d, are then
to the beam, as shewn in the Drawing, and the broad
secured to the arms c. On the upper angles of these arms c a V edge is
provided, and on that side to which the broad shares d are attached such
edge is intended to take into one of a series of horizontal V grooves in the
back of the stalks k, k, which carry the shares d at their lower end. The
front of these stalks is also provided with grooves for the purpose of
receiving a clasp 7, which attaches them respectively to the arm c.
When,

page_text: therefore, it is found requisite to adjust the height of the stalks, these clasps
are shifted into an upper or lower groove, as the case may be, and the V edge
on the arms is made to enter a groove on the stalk to suit such adjustment.
The clasps are then respectively screwed up by their nuts, and the stalks are
thereby firmly attached to the arms c. To the under surface or edge of the
stalks the broad shares a are bolted, and at the forward end of each of the
stalks a point m is secured by a peg or otherwise. The wheels f turn, as before
stated, in the lower end of vertical bars, and these bars are connected to the
brackets e, e, by eye bolts. The brackets e are firmly attached to the arms c
by bolts, which pass through their inner ends and through the arms c. When
the plough is thus arranged, and the beam is adjusted by means of the guide
wheel n to the required height, the surface of the earth may be broken up with
great expedition; and if the scil is light and the shares are not required to
enter deep into the earth, the stalks may be slidden to the end of the arms c,
and broader shares may be used, so as to act upon a greater width of land
at one traverse of the plough. It will thus be understood that this improved
implement is capable of various modifications to suit a variety of purposes; but
when it is intended only for surface work, that is, removing stubble, &c., I
employ three stalks, and place the middle one forward with its point under
the plough beam, in the same position as the subsoil point g. By this arrange-
ment, in place of the frame a, I substitute the third stalk, which I bolt to the
beani in any convenient manner, and thus I am enabled to produce a cheaper
implement, but limited in its applicability for work.
The last part of my Invention refers, as above stated, to the adjustment of
plough beams, and consists in the application of collars and screw bolts. Figure
10 represents a portion of a cast-iron frame a, with a wooden beam b attached
thereto by bolts 1 and 2. The hole in the frame through which the bolt 1
passes is lengthened crossways of the frame, (see the plan view, Figure 10*,)
and on this bolt 1, between the beam and frame, are collars, one or more of
which when the head of the plough is required to be raised is removed, and the
nut of the bolt is tightened up, but if the plough head is required to be
depressed one or more collars must be added. In order to adjust the beam to
the near side or off side, the bolt 1 is loosened and the beam is slidden either
to the right or left of the slot in the top of the frame. Figures 11 shew the
mode of securing the beam in its position. 3 is an ear cast on the frame a,
and furnished with a vertical slot; through this slot and through the beam b
a bolt 4, provided on the near side of the beam with collars, passes, and by
adding to or taking from these collars the beam may be adjusted laterally;
the bolts are then tightened up as before. By this means the adjustment of

page_text: the beam can be made by the ploughman, instead of sending the plough to the
maker, as is ordinarily the case.
Having now described my Invention, and the manner in which the same is
carried into effect, I wish it to be understood that with respect to the share
shewn and described under the first head of my Invention, I am aware that
shares have been made with a flat piece or shield to protect the end of the spit
from the friction of passing through the ground, but when such shield has been
used the share has been attached to the spit by a bolt. I am also aware that
shares have been attached to the spit by fitting in a socket above described,
but in such case no protection was given to the spit, and therefore the advan-
tage of a ready attachment was counterbalanced by the destructive wear on
the end of the spit. I therefore do not intend to claim singly protecting the
spit from wear by the application of a shield, which forms part with the share;
nor do I claim the mode of affixing the share to the spit; but I do claim the
improved share above described, and shewn in the Drawings, whereby the two
advantages of a ready attachment and protecting shoe or shield are combined.
Under this head of the Invention I claim, secondly, the mode of attaching
the breast or mould board, as above described; and, thirdly, the mode of
mounting the guide wheels.
Under the second head of my Invention I claim, firstly, the general arrange-
ment of the parts, as above described, for subsoil ploughing, and for clearing
the surface of the land. And particularly I claim the application to agricultural
implements (in which shares or blades for cutting up the soil are used) of the
subsoil point g, which precedes the shares or cutting edges, and, entering the
soil to a given depth, keeps the shares or blades steady to their work. I also
claim the attaching on the same frame or stalk of a forward point and a broad
share, either of which may be removed when injured to allow of a new share
or point being attached. And I likewise claim the arrangement of the broad
share h, and blades or knives i, i, whereby I am enabled when subsoiling to
cut the earth transversely at different heights, as before explained.
Under the third head of my Invention I claim the mode of adjusting the
beams of ploughs, as described with reference to Figures 10, 10*, and 11.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Hammond Bentall, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.
EDWARD HAMMOND (L.S.) BENTALL.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Twenty-third day of
January, in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Edward Hammond
Bentall came before our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged
the Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the same Twenty-third day of January, in the year above written.