IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES FOR THE CULTIVATION OF LAND BY STEAM POWER
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Massey, of Newport, in the County of
Salop, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES FOR
THE CULTIVATION OF LAND BY STEAM POWER."
Sealed the 10th November 1857, and dated the 12th May 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Massey at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition; on the 12th
May 1857.
: I, WILLIAM MASSEY, of Newport, in the County of Salop, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ENGINES FOR THE CULTIVATION OF LAND BY STEAM POWER," to be as follows:-
I propose to employ a suitable frame of wood or iron, or both, mounted
upon either three or four' wheels; the fore wheel or wheels working upon a
loose under carriage, as waggons are usually constructed for facility of turning.
Upon the frame is mounted a vertical steam boiler, the engine being fixed
thereto either in an oblique or vertical position. The engine is provided with
slides; rods, piston, governor, et cetera, as usual, and is connected to a crank
shaft below on the frame to give motion to the other parts of the mechanism..
On the crank shaft. I propose to place two pinions running. loose upon the
shaft when not connected by two clutch. boxes; which are also' free to slide
upon the same shaft, but capable of being. put into gear with one or other of
the pinions, when required; by means of a forked lever. These pinion's work
into spur gear on the edges of the rope; barrels, which said rope barrels can

page_text: be easily disconnected from the remainder of the machinery, and removed
altogether by the use of slides worked by screws, or by withdrawing the axial
bar, thus relieving the engine of their weight, and rendering it available for
any other service. Upon the front portion of the under carriage, I propose
to place two rollers moveable in various directions, and..actuated in various
ways, acting as guide rollers, winding the rope regularly on the barrels without
overlapping; or, as another means of effecting the same object, I can use a
rope pulley to each barrel, working on a cylindrical bar, which has double or
right and left-handed grooves cut spirally upon its surface, the one running
from left to right, and the other from right to left, which will thus cause the
rope to be laid spirally upon the drum or barrel. It will thus be seen that
my improvements form a combination of a vertical engine and boiler, with a
windlass or rope barrels upon the said frame, the barrels working from the
crank shaft direct without any other intermediate gearing than the two pinions,
aforesaid, with the facility of disconnecting the rope. barrels, and allowing the
engine to be applied to any other purpose, and that by means of the guide
rollers mentioned the rope is caused to wind evenly and without overlapping
upon the barrels.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed:
by the said William Massey.in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 12th
November 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MASSEY, of Newport, in the County of Salop, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her:
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Massey, Her special licence that I, the said William Massey, my.
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William.
Massey, my 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 ENGINES
FOR THE CULTIVATION OF LAND BY STEAM POWER;" upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Massey, by an instrument in writing under.

page_text: my hand and seal, should particularly 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 I, the said William Massey, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following.
statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
I propose to employ a suitable frame of wood or iron, or both, mounted
upon either three or four wheels, the fore wheel or wheels working upon a
loose under carriage, as waggons are usually constructed for facility of turning.
Upon the frame is mounted a vertical steam boiler, the engine being fixed
thereto either in an oblique or vertical position. The engine is provided with
slides, rods, piston, governor, and all usual appliances, and is connected to a
crank shaft below on the frame to give motion to the other parts of the
mechanism. On the crank shaft I propose to place two pinions running loose
upon the shaft when not connected by two clutch boxes, which are also free to
slide upon the same shaft, but capable of being put into gear with one or
other of the pinions, when required, by means of a forked lever. These
pinions work into spur gear on the edges of the rope barrels, which said rope
barrels can be easily disconnected from the remainder of the machinery, and.
removed altogether by the use of slides worked by screws, or by withdrawing
the axial bar, thus relieving the engine of their weight, and rendering it
available for any other service. Upon the front portion of the under carriage
I propose to place two rollers moveable in various directions, and actuated in
various ways, acting as guide rollers, winding the rope regularly on the barrels
without overlapping; or, as another means of effecting the same object I can
use a rope pulley to each barrel, working on a cylindrical bar, which has
double or right and left-handed grooves cut spirally upon its surface, the one
running from left to right, and the other from right to left, which will thus
cause the rope to be laid spirally upon the drum or barrel.
It will thus be seen that my improvements form a combination of vertical
engine and boiler, with a windlass or rope barrels upon the same frame, the
barrels working from the crank shaft direct without any other intermediate
gearing than the two pinions aforesaid, with the facility of disconnecting the
rope barrels, and allowing the engine to be applied to
any other purpose, also
that by means of the guide rollers mentioned, the rope is caused to wind
evenly and without overlapping upon the barrels..

page_text: Figure 1 is a side elevation of an engine constructed according to my.
Invention.
Figure 2, a plan of the same seen from above,
- Figure 3, a part section on the line A, A, shewing in dotted lines the cap-
stans out of use.
Figure 4, a part section on line B, B, shewing the capstans in position.
and method of driving screw.
Figure 5, elevation and section of the spiral guide rods, governing the
coiling of the rope on the drums.
Figure 6, end view of one of the chain pulleys.
Figures 7 and 8, elevations of the follower or swivel which governs the
position of the sliding rope pulleys on the spiral guidé rod.
I will now proceed to describe the construction and action of the engine.
(A) is a strong frame of timber, or iron, or both, mounted on wheels, and
supporting a vertical boiler (B) and engine (C), which engine may be an
ordinary vertical one, and will therefore need no further description save as
regards its mode of attachment to and connection with the rest of the
apparatus shewn on the Drawings. On the crank shaft (D) are placed the
pinions (E, E¹) driving the wheels (F, F), which are cast in one piece with
the drums (G, G¹); upon which drums the ropes drawing or working the
ploughs or other implements are to be coiled. By means of the sliding
clutches (H,. H') one of the pinions (E, E¹) may be put in gear whilst the
other remains loose, the lever (I) enabling the operator to effect this. Upon
the bosses (K, K¹) of the drums (G, G¹) are keyed the chain pulleys (L, L),
over which, and the corresponding pulleys (L', L'), the chains (M, M¹) work;
motion is thereby imparted to the guide rods (N, N¹) the chain pulleys (L, L')
being keyed to the said rods. These rods will be better seen on reference to
Figure 5, in which Figure the guide rods are represented, part in section and
part in elevation. These guide rods are for the purpose of leading the rope on
to the drums (G, G¹) in a regular spiral coil, which object is effected in the
following manner-Below the guide rods (N, N¹) and parallel to them, being
mounted on the same bracket (0) Figure 3,) is a second rod (P), upon which
are hung carrier frames supporting guide pulleys (Q, Q¹). The carriers of
these pulleys are free to slide up and down the rod (P.) In the head of each
swivel,"
carrier is inserted a small instrument I term the "follower" or "
marked (R) and seen more clearly in Figures 7 and 8. The guide rods
(N, N¹) have double spiral grooves cut round them, into which grooves the

page_text: "follower" runs, carrying in its course the guide pulleys (Q, Q¹) backward
and forward on the rod P. The guide rods (N, N¹) meeting in the middle-
are supported by the journal of one of them (S) entering a socket in the boss
(T) of the chain pulley on the other guide rod; the boss T, being carried by a
plummer block, serves as the journal for the guide rod N. It will be seen on
reference to Figure 2, that there is a chain pulley upon each of the guide rods
(N, N¹). Each pulley is keyed to its own rod, the chains passing over the
studs (U).
We will assume, in describing the action of this windlass, that the drum (G).
is letting out whilst the corresponding drum (G¹) is coiling its rope, as re-
presented in Figure 2; then the rope upon the drum (G¹), passing over the
guide pulley (Q), is directed in its spiral course by its guide rod (N¹); the
"follower" in the carrier of the guide pulley (Q), working spirally backward
and forward in the grooves in the guide rod, causes the carrier of the pulley
(Q) to slide backward and forward on the rod (P); consequently the rope
must follow the same course upon the drum (G'), and having completed one
layer or coil returns and coils itself backwards in the same manner, which
operation is repeated until, coil upon coil, the whole of the rope is wound upon
the drum.
It now remains to describe the mode I adopt for rendering the boiler
and steam engine of this combined or compound engine applicable to the
performance of other operations connected with agriculture; such, for
instance, as the driving of thrashing and winnowing machines, for which uses
the windlass or drums would not only be useless, but would be calculated, by
their bulk and weight, to impede rather than assist in this class of work; I
therefore provide the means of removing the drums altogether from the frame
of the engine, so that they may be laid aside until again called into requisition.
A reference to (Figure 3) shews, in dotted line, the drums thrown back to the
end of the frame, and ready to be lowered to the ground. To do this I release
the bearings of the axis of the drums from the frame of the engine, and, by
means of the screw rods (V) working through a free swivel (V), the drums
are drawn up the frame and turned over, as seen in the Drawing, a flange on
the bracket (0) furnishing a tramway or easy incline, and thus assisting the
action of the rods (V); the drums are then lowered to the ground, the screw rod
detached from the swivel (V1), and the engine and boiler are free for other uses.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood, that that
which I claim and desire to have secured to me by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent, is,-

page_text: Firstly, the combination of a vertical, or nearly vertical engine, with the
windlass or capstan employed with machinery for cultivating land.
Secondly, I claim the guide movement for ensuring the regular coiling of
the rope on the drums or capstan; and I also claim the application of this
guide movement to capstans and windlasses, used with cultivating machinery in
general, and other than that herein described.
And, thirdly, I claim the detaching of the windlass or capstan from the
steam engine, whereby the said engine is rendered available for other purposes,
as herein more fully set forth and specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Massey, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
WILLIAM MASSEY. (L.S.)
Witness,
EDWARD J. PAYNE.