IMPROVEMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL IMPLE- NENTS AND IN APPARATIES FOR WORKING THE SAME.” WEETS AND T APPARATIR FOR WORKING THE SAME. PROVISIONAL SPÉCIFICATION
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Roberts and Alexander Roberts, both of
No. 5, Victoria Cottages, Barton, Terrace, Gloucester, in the County of
Gloucester, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL IMPLE-
NENTS AND IN APPARATIES FOR WORKING THE SAME.”
WEETS AND T APPARATIR FOR WORKING THE SAME.
PROVISIONAL SPÉCIFICATION left by the said Frederick Roberts and
Alexander Roberts at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 21st March 1863.
We, FREDERICK ROBERTS and ALEXANDER ROBERTS, both of No. 5, Victoria
Cottages, Barton Terrace, Gloucester, in the County of Gloucester, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL
IMPLEMENTS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR WORKING THE SAME," to be as follows:-
This Invention comprises various improvements in agricultural implements,
or in apparatus for working the same, being more particularly designed for
application in the cultivating system, wherein two reversed set of ploughs or
other agricultural implements are drawn backwards and forwards between a
steam engine and a stationary pulley or anchor, or two steam engines, or two
anchors, some of the improvements being also applicable otherwise.

page_text: In one modification of the portion of the improved arrangements in
immediate connection with the ploughs or implements there is centrally a
kind of carriage or framing resting upon three wheels, which are adjustable
as to height, and of which one, a large one, runs in the furrow on one side,
whilst the other two, being small ones, run on the land or top surface on the
other side. A barrel is mounted loose on a transverse horizontal shaft forming
part of the carriage framing, and at opposite ends of this barrel there are discs
or levers, to the opposite points of which are jointed the inner ends of two
frames, having the ploughs or other implements attached to them. These
frames lie in opposite directions, and when the barrel is turned to place one
frame in its lowest position the other frame will be in its highest position.
The outer ends of the plough or implement frames are formed with sockets,
through which pass vertical spindles fitted with swinging or castor wheels at
their lower ends, and the outer frame ends are moved up or down these
spindles simultaneously with the upward or downward movements of the inner
frame ends by means of ropes led from the barrel to pulleys at the heads of
the spindles; or other equivalent mechanical means may be adopted to keep
the plough or implement frames parallel, or nearly so, whilst being moved up
or down. The draught of the hauling rope is made to draw down the proper
plough or implement frame into its working position at each traverse, and for
this purpose there is upon the barrel a double-grooved pulley or sheave, which
can be put into or out of gear with the barrel by an ordinary clutch and
lever. The rope ends are attached one to each part of the pulley, both ends
being led upon it underneath. With this arrangement it follows that when
one rope, that to the right, for example, is hauled tight, the barrel is turned
down on the left-hand side, putting what is then the after set of ploughs or
implements down into their acting position, the strain being applied in a very
effective way for forcing the ploughs or implements down into the soil. To
facilitate the shifting of the apparatus at the headlands, and otherwise, the
central carrying wheels are made to swivel for steering purposes. In a simple
arrangement for steering these wheels a bevilled tooth sector is fixed on the
vertical spindle of the large wheel, this sector being connected by cross links
to levers on the vertical spindles of the two wheels on the opposite side. The
toothed sector is acted upon by a bevil pinion on a spindle fitted with a hand
wheel. Other implements instead of ploughs may be attached to the frames.
In one modification of the portion of the improved arrangements relating to
the haulage of the implements, a steam boiler (vertical by preference) is
employed to admit of the hauling or winding drums being conveniently

page_text: ;
mounted independently of it, but on the same framing. The framing is, by
preference, rectangular, and the boiler is placed at one end between the main
driving wheels. At the other end there is, by preference, a pair of smaller
wheels arranged with swivelling gear for steering purposes. These wheels
may also be arranged to rock, so as to accommodate themselves to inequalities
in the ground surface. The winding drums are mounted on a horizontal shaft
disposed longitudinally, and the first motion shaft is placed in a parallel
position above. The first motion or crank shaft is actuated, by preference, by
two steam cylinders placed above one of the drums, and the drums are
actuated by a pinion on the first motion shaft in gear with a spur wheel on
the drum shaft, a clutch or clutches being provided for throwing either drum
into or out of gear. For actuating the driving wheels, toothed rings or wheels
are fixed or formed on the inner faces thereof, and these toothed rings are
encircled by endless chains driven by toothed pinions on a transverse horizontal
shaft, receiving motion from the first motion shaft by means of the usual
arrangement of three bevil wheels with clutch for giving motion in either
direction. On the end of the first motion shaft there is a fly wheel shaped to
act as a driving pulley when it is wished to employ the engine for actuating
thrashing or other machines. The framing may be continued beyond the
boiler to support a water tank and coal box, and a platform for the driver;
the framing also may be made hollow, so as itself to form a tank, if preferred,
and the various levers for controlling the working of the engine may be
arranged conveniently to the driver's hand. The anchor, with guide pulley
for the headland opposite to that at which the engine is placed, consists
simply of a kind of triangular frame on three wheels, one whereof is arranged
to swivel for steering. The guide sheave or pulley is on the lower end of a
vertical spindle hung in bearings on the frame, and on the upper end of this
spindle there is a bevil wheel in gear with a bevil wheel on a short horizontal
spindle, with clutch for putting into or out of gear. The horizontal spindle has
a pinion on one end, which gears with a toothed ring or wheel fixed or formed
op the inner face of one of the carrying wheels, and by this means the anchor
is rendered self-moving. The axle of the main carrying wheels may be shifted
upon the frame in order to lift the guide pulley or sheave higher off the
ground when travelling. Flange pieces are provided to bolt to the wheels
for the purpose of penetrating the soil, and so resisting the lateral strain on
the anchor. The parts of the apparatus may be combined in various ways
besides that described; thus one plough frame or different implements may
be attached directly to the engine, which may itself be made to traverse

page_text: backwards and forwards over the ground, and in this case the winding drums
may be removed from the engine if wished.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Roberts and Alexander Roberts in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 21st September. 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, FREDERICK
ROBERTS and ALEXANDER ROBERTS, both of No. 5, Victoria Cottages, Barton
Terrace, Gloucester, in the County of Gloucester, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Frederick Roberts and Alexander Roberts, Her special licence that we,
the said Frederick Roberts and Alexander Roberts, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Frederick Roberts and
Alexander Roberts, our 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
AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR WORKING THE SAME," upon
the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Frederick Roberts and
Alexander Roberts, our executors or administrators, by. an instrument in
writing under our, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 we, the said Frederick Roberts and Alexander
Roberts, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, and the accompanying Drawings,
with the letters of reference marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention comprises various improvements in agricultural implements,

page_text: and in apparatus for working the same, being more particularly designed for -
application in the cultivating system, wherein two reversed sets of ploughs
or other agricultural implements are drawn backwards and forwards
between a steam engine and a stationary pulley or anchor, or two steam
engines, or two anchors, some of the improvements being also applicable
otherwise.
In one modification of the portion of the improved arrangements in
immediate connection with the ploughs or implements there is centrally a kind
of carriage or framing resting upon three wheels, which are adjustable as
to height, one of which (a large one) runs in the furrow on one side, whilst
the other two (being small ones) run on the land or top surface on the other
side. A barrel is mounted loose on a transverse horizontal shaft forming part
of the carriage framing, and at opposite ends of this barrel there are discs or
levers, to the opposite points of which are jointed the inner ends of two frames,
having the ploughs or other implements attached to them. These frames
lie in opposite directions, and when the barrel is turned to place one frame in
its lowest position the other frame will be in its highest position. The outer
ends of the plough or implement frames are formed with sockets, through
which pass vertical spindles fitted with swinging or castor wheels at their lower
ends, and the outer frame ends are moved up or down these spindles simul-
taneously with the upward or downward movements of the inner frame ends
by means of ropes led from the barrel to pulleys at the heads of the spindles ;
or other equivalent mechanical means, may be adopted to keep the plough or
implement frames parallel, or nearly so, whilst being moved up or down. The
draught of the hauling rope is made to draw down the proper plough or
implement frame into its working position at each traverse, and for this purposo
there is upon the barrel a double-grooved pulley or sheave, which can be put
into or out of gear with the barrel by an ordinary clutch and lever. The rope
ends are attached one to each part of the pulley, both ends being led upon it
underneath. With this arrangement it follows that when one rope, that
to the right, for example, is hauled tight, the barrel is turned down on
the left-hand side, putting what is then the after set of ploughs or imple-
ments down into their acting position, the strain being applied in a very
effective way for forcing the ploughs or implements down into the soil.
To facilitate the shifting of the apparatus at the headlands, and otherwise,
the central. carrying wheels are made to swivel for steering purposes.
In a simple arrangement for steering these wheels a bevilled tooth sector
is fixed on the vertical spindle of the large wheel, this sector being connected

page_text: by cross links to levers- on the vertical spindles of the two wheels on the
opposite side. The toothed sector is acted upon by a bevil pinion on a spindle
fitted with a hand wheel. Other implements instead of ploughs may be
attached to the frame.
-
In one modification of the portion of the improved arrangements relating
to the haulage of the implements, a steam boiler (vertical by preference)
is employed to admit of the hauling or winding drums being conveniently
mounted independently of it, but on the same framing. The framing is (by
preference) rectangular, and the boiler is placed at one end between the main
driving, wheels. At the other end there is, by preference, a pair of smaller
wheels arranged with swivelling gear for steering purposes. These wheels
may also be arranged to rock, so as to accommodate themselves to inequalities
in the ground surface. The winding drums are mounted on a horizontal
shaft disposed longitudinally and the first motion shaft is placed in a
parallel position above. The first motion or crank shaft is actuated (by
preference) by two steam cylinders placed above one of the drums, and the
drums are actuated by a pinion on the first motion shaft in gear with a
spur wheel on the drum shaft, a clutch or clutches being provided for
throwing either drum into or out of gear. For actuating the driving wheels,
toothed rings or wheels are fixed or formed on the inner faces thereof, and
these toothed rings are encircled by endless chains driven by toothed pinions
on a transverse horizontal shaft, receiving motion from the first motion
shaft by means of three bevil wheels with clutch for giving motion
in either direction. On the end of the first motion shaft there is a fly
wheel shaped to act as a driving pulley when it is wished to employ the
engine for actuating thrashing or other machines. The framing may be
continued beyond the boiler to support a water tank and coal box and a
platform for the driver; the framing also may be made hollow, so as
itself to form a tank, if preferred, and the various levers for controlling
the working of the engine may be arranged conveniently to the driver's hand.
The anchor, with guide pulley for the headland opposite to that at which
the engine is placed, consists simply of a kind of triangular or other form
of frame mounted on three or four wheels, one or two whereof being arranged
to swivel for steering. The guide sheave or pulley is on the lower end of
a vertical spindle hung in bearings on the frame, and on the upper
end of this spindle there is a bevil wheel in gear with another bevil wheel
on a short horizontal spindle, with clutch for putting them into or out of
The horizontal spindle has a pinion on one end, which gears with
gear.
.

page_text: a toothed ring or wheel fixed or formed on the inner face of one of
the carrying wheels, and by this means the anchor is rendered self-moving.
The axle of the main carrying wheels may be shifted upon the frame in
order to lift the guide pulley or sheave higher off the ground when travelling.
Flange pieces are provided to bolt to the wheels for the purpose of
penetrating the soil, and so resisting the lateral strain on the anchor. The
parts of the apparatus may be combined in various ways besides that
described; thus one plough frame or different implements may be attached
directly to the engine, which may itself be made to traverse backwards and
forwards over the ground, and in this case the winding drums may be removed

page_text: thereby be turned, and the wheels thus swivelled. The height of the carriage
from the ground, or the depth to which the ploughs or implements are required
to penetrate the ground, is regulated or adjusted by means of nuts R screwed
on the vertical parts of the axles.
.
Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the combined engine and windlass, and Fig. 5
a ground plan of the same. A is the boiler, and B, B, the winding drums
carried by the same frame, or carriage C. The frame Ċ may be constructed
so as to form a water tank for the supply of the boiler. D, D, are the
travelling wheels, the front or smaller ones being made to rock and swivel, a
method of steering them being herein-after shewn. E are the toothed rings or
chain wheels fixed on the travelling wheels, encircled by chains F' passing over
the pinions G, carried by the cross shaft H. This cross shaft also has two bevil
pinions I, which turn loosely on it, and gear with another bevil pinion J keyed
on the crank shaft K. On the shaft H and between the pinions I is a clutch
L, which is made to slide on the shaft. The clutch has projections at both of
its ends, and in the pinions I are corresponding recesses. When, therefore,
the clutch is thrown out to the right hand, the right-hand pinion will become
fixed on the cross shaft H, and in revolving will of course carry the shaft with
it, giving motion to the travelling wheels in one direction, and when the clutch
is thrown to the left the same effect follows, only the direction given to the
travelling wheels will be opposite to the former. When stationary, the clutch
is midway between the pinions I, and the shaft H is at rest. By this
arrangement we dispense with the usual link motion, the engine never
requiring to be reversed. M is a lever for throwing the clutch L into or out
gear with one or other of the wheels I. Each of the drums has a suitable
rope, to which the plough or cultivator is attached, one of them winding up its
rope as the implement approaches, and the other unwinding; and as the
implement returns to the anchor, vice versa. The drums are not keyed to the
horizontal spindle but turn loosely on it; while at work, ploughing or cul-
tivating, it is necessary at each traverse of the implement to throw one drum
out of gear and the other in. This is done as follows:-The large gear
wheel N runs loosely on the horizontal spindle that carries the drums, and a
projecting boss thereon, forming a neck, is supported by a bearing on the
frame of the carriage, betwixt which and one of the drums is a clutch O,
which slides on the spindle and has projections which pass through the boss of
the said wheel and enter the drum when moved in that direction, also having
other projections which enter the other drum when moved in the opposite
direction, consequently each drum will be thrown into or out of gear as the
of
•

page_text: clutch is thrown to the right or left. In this way on the plough arriving at
the headland there is no necessity for stopping or reversing the engines.. The
gear wheel N is actuated by the pinion P keyed to the crank shaft K, on
which shaft is the fly wheel Q, which may be available where not employed in
ploughing for giving off the power of the engine for thrashing, grinding, pumping,
or any other sort of work required. The shaft K is driven by two oscillating
engines fixed on the framing, one of which is shewn at R connected to one of
the cranks. S is the lever for working the clutch O, and T is a spindle on
which is a worm U gearing with a wheel V on a short shaft, on which is a
wheel in gear with a sector W on one of the axles of the front wheels, which is
connected by rods and levers to the other, whereby they are swivelled, and the
engine steered as required. The said front wheels are also capable of rocking
or rising and falling, according to the undulations of the ground, by having
the axle frames hinged in the middle at X. The framing may be brought
back behind the boiler, and made to support a small tender for coal, water,
and a platform for the engineman. The engine, windlass, and steering are
all managed at the boiler end, as shewn. The framing itself may form
a tank.
order to make the anchor take
Fig. 6 is a ground plan, Fig. 7 a side elevation, and Fig. 8 an end elevation,
of the anchor. A is a sheave pulley, around which the draft rope passes as
the plough is drawn across the field; B, B, are the travelling wheels, which in
this case are three, but may be four or more. The front wheel or wheels are
made to swivel for steering the anchor. In
firm hold of the ground for resisting the side strain, a series of plates C are
bolted to the rims of the travelling wheels B. These plates revolve with the
wheels and penetrate the ground. By the employment of these plates we are
enabled to retain the travelling wheels while at work; when not at work the
plates can be taken off. For moving the anchor along the headland (for the
purpose of keeping it opposite its work) one of the travelling wheels has a
gear wheel D either bolted to it or cast in one with it, and the vertical
spindle E of the sheave has a bevil pinion F keyed on it. The pinion F
gears with the pinion G, carried by the cross spindle H. This cross spindle H
carries at its other end a pinion I, which gears with the wheel D. When it
is required to move the anchor along the headland, the pinion G is thrown
into gear with the pinion F by means of the clutch L being moved by the
lever K. J is a lever for guiding the front wheel or wheels; M is a cross
piece for carrying the spindle E, the bearings N, N, of the cross spindle H, or
any other fixtures required; M also carries the axle bar O, which is bolted to

page_text: it. In order to raise the sheave A for travelling, the axle bar may be bolted
to M a little lower down, and that the whole weight may not be on the bolts,
ledges or projections may be made on M to rest on the axle bar.
In witness whereof, we, the said Frederick Roberts and Alexander
Roberts, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Nineteenth day
of September, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
FREDERICK ROBERTS. (L.S.)
ALEXANDER ROBERTS. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Frederick Roberts
and Alexander Roberts, in the pre-
sence of
WM. TASKER,
Patent Agent,
Halifax.