IMPROVE- MENTS IN IMPLEMENTS FOR HOEING
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MARTIN, of Barmer, near Fakenham, in the County of Norfolk, Farmer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-ninth day of
July, in the sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Martin, Her especial
license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Martin,
my exors, admors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said John Martin,
my exors, admors, 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 expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England and
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN IMPLEMENTS FOR HOEING;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso, requiring that I, the said John Martin, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, shall particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
and shall cause the same to be enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said in part recited Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Martin, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by this present Instrument in writing as follows, reference being

page_text: had to the Drawings hereunto attached, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates to certain mechanical arrangements intended for
hocing turnips and other crops by the aid of horse power, so as to effect agri-
cultural operations of this class much more satisfactorily and economically
than has hitherto been accomplished, two or more rows of plants being hoed
at once.
And in order that my Invention may be properly understood, I shall now
proceed to describe the Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed.
Figure 1 on my Sheet of Drawings is a side or longitudinal elevation of the
implement complete, in working order; and Figure 2 is a corresponding plan
of the same. The working machinery is carried upon a combined wood and
iron frame of rectangular shape, having upper and lower divisions A, B, held
together by vertical tie rods C, and otherwise connected by cross bars; a pair
of draught shafts D being attached over all, at one end of the machine. The
main body of the implement is carried on the pair of large outside running
wheels E, each of which runs loose on a short supporting stud shaft fast in the
side of the main framing. The inner projecting boss of each wheel has upon it a
small spur wheel F, in gear with a toothed pinion G, these two pinions being
fast on the two opposite ends of the horizontal transverse shafts H, H, carried
in bearings in the centre of the framing. In this way the whole of the
mechanism is directly actuated by the natural revolution of the wheels E as
the implement is drawn on the field, the wheels being hooped with ribbed
or serrated metal, in order to secure them a hold on the earth. The second
motion shaft H carries a pair of spur wheels J, each gearing with a small
spur wheel K, fast on the two ends of a third motion transverse shaft L, carried
in journals in the framing. This shaft has keyed upon it two bevil pinions M,
respectively in gear with several bevil pinions N, fast on the projecting ends
of the two short horizontal shafts O, carried in bearings P. On one side this
gearing is hidden in the Drawing by the protective covering, which is broken
away on the other side, and as the mechanism on both sides is alike it is
unnecessary to make further reference to the duplex arrangements, the corre-
sponding parts being lettered the same in each case. The shaft O, then, has
a simple universal joint coupling Q, connecting it to the link or intermediate
shaft R, which is again similarly jointed at S to a short horizontal shaft T, run-
ning in end bearings U in the separate frame V behind the main apparatus. This
frame is composed of the two main transverse beams V, connected by the over-
head bridge pieces W, and supported on the four plain free running wheels X,
adjustable for the purpose of regulating the depth of the hocing action by the

page_text: clamp nuts Y. These two shafts T are the hoeing spindles; each receives a
revolving motion as above described, and each carries a rotary hoe, or set of
four actual working hoes or earth-raisers Z. These hoes are arranged on
adjustable arms round a boss keyed or screwed on to the spindle, and as the
machine is drawn along the lines of the turnips or other plants to be hoed, each
set of hoeing arms hoes or earths up one side of a row of plants, leaving them
in readiness for being singled by hand in the usual way; a, a, are counterweights
to balance the weight of the hoes. The beams carrying the hoes are steered so
as to be retained in a track parallel with the lines of plants by the duplex lever
handle b, which is fast on the hind projecting end of the central longitudinal
shaft c, carried in the two bearings d. A short lever e is keyed on the
shaft c, and is connected by a link with one of the cross bridges W, so that by
partially turning the shaft C the transverse beams V may be moved either
to the right or left, as the case may be. The hind part of the main frame
carries two projecting brackets f, ascending at their projecting ends to a very
considerable height, and carrying elevated bearings for the transverse regu-
lating shaft g, which has fast upon it a set of four eccentric chain pulleys h.
These pulleys have each a separate pendant chain i attached to and passed over
them, two of them being connected with the bridges W, and the other two
connected with the ends of the bent weighted levers j, j; the opposite ends of
the levers work in fixed centres k, and support the outer ends of the horizontal
shafts H in the bearings 1. A lever handle m is keyed on to the shaft, 9, and
serves to partially turn that shaft and raise all the eccentric pulleys h; by this
means the ends of the levers j will be raised, which will have the effect of
raising the pinions G from the spur wheels F, thereby throwing the mechanism
for driving the hoes out of gear. The hoes are simultaneously raised from the
ground by the chains which are attached to the bridges W. In this state the
implement may be transported on its running wheels to any place required
without endangering the hoes at all. A detent and ratchet wheel n is
employed for keeping the hoes at any required elevation, and for retaining the
pinions G when out of gear with the wheels F. When a change of speed
is required, the spur wheels J are lowered into the smaller pinions k, formed
on the sides of the larger ones K; in this case allowance must be made for the
sinking of the ends of the shafts H, by fitting thereto smaller pinions to replace
the one shewn at G. In the Drawing the spur wheels J are represented in
gear with the larger of the two change pinions and K.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which is or may be used or carried into effect, I
may observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself to the

page_text: precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe or refer
to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from the
principles or main features of my Invention; but what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the general arrangement and combination of mechanism herein-before
described for hoeing agricultural crops..
Second, the application and use of revolving hoes, in the manner and for the
purpose herein-before- described.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-
seventh day of January, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-three.
Signed, sealed, and delivered, in the
presence of
EDM KENT, Solicitor,
Fakenham, Norfolk.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-seventh day of January,
in the year of our Lord 1853, the aforesaid John Martin came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.