CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM CULTI- VATORS, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO TRACTION ENGINES AND TO PORTABLE ENGINES USED FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Bischoff, of the Firm of Messieurs Streckeisen,
Bischoff, and Company, of No. 7, New Broad Street, in the City of
London, for the Invention of “CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM CULTI-
VATORS, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO TRACTION ENGINES
AND TO PORTABLE ENGINES USED FOR OTHER PURPOSES." -A communication
from abroad by Robert Creuzbaur, of the City of Austin, in the
County of Travis, State of Texas, in the United States of America.
.
Sealed the 31st July 1866, and dated the 3rd March 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Bischoff at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd
March 1866.
I, JOHN BISCHOFF, of the Firm of Messieurs Streckeisen, Bischoff, and
Company, of 7, New Broad Street, in the City of London, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM
CULTIVATORS, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO TRACTION ENGINES
AND TO PORTABLE ENGINES USED FOR OTHER PUBPOSES," to be as follows:-
The said improvements in steam cultivators relate partly to that class of
portable steam engines known as agricultural engines, common road and
traction engines, and partly to certain apparatus applicable for ploughing,.
[Prise 8d.]

page_text: tilling, and cultivating, and for similar purposes, and also to certain arrange-
ments and combinations of such steam engines with the said tilling apparatus.
The steam carriage frame is supported by the principal axle with its two
side wheels and by a third wheel in front, which at the same time serves as
guide or steering wheel. When turning round a corner, one of the side wheels
can be disengaged by means of a clutch box. Between the axle of the side
wheels and the steering wheel is placed a vertical boiler, to the upper part of
which is attached the inverted steam cylinder with valves and piston rod, and
also a smaller steam cylinder whose object will be hereafter explained. A
connecting rod connects as usual the steam cylinder with the crank or main
shaft, which latter is placed in the middle between the two side frames and
reaches to the rear of the carriage, where it communicates motion by means
of two bevil wheels to the vertical shaft of the central horizontal rotating
cultivator; the lower end of this shaft passes through the boss of a disc or
cross, to which are bolted four arms, on the rounded end of each of which is
placed a colter, a wrought-iron hoop or ring to which these arms are bolted
close to the rounded ends firmly connects the four arms and enables them to
resist the side pressure of the colter when in operation. At the upper end
where it is hinged the colter has a short arm reaching at a right angle to a
bracket or stirrup fixed to the before mentioned hoop or ring. The end of
the short arm is secured to the bracket by a wooden pin which holds the colter
and prevents its turning round its centre when at work, but the object in
using a wooden pin is for the purpose of ensuring its breaking in case the
colter should meet with unexpected obstruction and thereby preventing damage
to the machinery. The distance of the colter frame from the ground can be
varied by sliding the cross or disc up or down on the upright shaft and
securing it at the proper height by a pin or bolt passed through holes formed
for this purpose in the boss of the cross and on the shaft.
In order however to facilitate the raising and lowering of the colter frames,
and to enable the operator when at heavy work to start the machine with
the colters at a shallow depth and to let them down to the intended depth by
degrees, a rack and pinion arrangement is applied to the vertical shaft above
the driving wheel. A hand wheel is fixed to the pinion shaft by which the
rack is raised or lowered. The colters are to be from 15 to 21 inches long,
and are intended to cut the land by rotating horizontally, their outside edges
are advanced sharp corners which cut the land and draw the loosened soil
towards the centre. For the cultivation of growing crops, shares and scrapes
are used instead of the colters. These shares and scrapers are from six to twelve
"

page_text: inches in width which unlike the colters cut in the rear sweep as well as in
front according to the purposes for which the machine is employed and the
resistance to be overcome. The machine must have the capacity of varying its
speed, and it is also desirable to be able to go backwards with the machine as
well as forward; this is accomplished as follows:-On the crank shaft are
placed two bevil pinions turning loose upon the shaft within suitable collars;
between these pinions is placed a double clutch box moving in a key and key
groove. A bevil wheel keyed on a short horizontal shaft gears into the two
pinions and on the same short shaft are keyed a spear wheel and pinion,
which gear respectively into a carrier pinion and into a wheel, both of which
turn loose on a countershaft. The former again gears into a wheel turning
loose on the carriage axle, and the latter has a pinion cast to it which likewise
gears into a wheel loose on the carriage axle. A third and fourth loose pinion on
the countershaft gear into two corresponding wheels keyed fast on the carriage
axle. By means of the wheel and pinion on the first named short shaft, and
the corresponding wheels on the countershaft, two different speeds can be.
given to the countershaft, and by bringing the several loose and fast wheels
on the carriage axle into or out of action by means of clutch boxes, two
different speeds can be given to the carriage axle and wheels by each of them,
or in all eight different speeds. If the double clutch box between the bevil
pinions on the crank shaft is in a central position the carriage stands still, by
moving the box forward into gear the carriage advances, and by moving it
backward into gear the carriage will be propelled backwards. It is proposed
to work the engine at 60 revolutions when acting as a cultivator, and at a 100
revolutions when used as a traction or road engine or as a stationary power
engine, when used for these latter purposes the cultivator frames are removed.
In addition to the central cultivator above described two side cultivators of
equal dimensions and construction are fixed to the end frame, which for this
purpose projects on both sides of the carriage and is strengthened by tie rods
passing to the side carriage frames. In cultivating growing crops each of
the three horizontally rotating frames cultivates a row, the machine making
three rows at a time. When used to dig ditches the two side frames are
removed. The two side frames are driven from the centre frame by means
of chains.
The improvements relating to the engine and boiler are as follows:-To
overcome the dead points of the crank a small steam cylinder already referred
to is attached to the main cylinder and is provided with piston and piston rod.
Above the piston this cylinder is in communication with the steam in the steam

page_text: chest and below the. piston with. the escape steam,, the latter to. keep the
cylinder hot and to prevent condensation above the piston. The piston rod of
the small cylinder reaches down to the long arm of a bell-crank. lever hinged
to the carriage. frame. This arm therefore receives the pressure of the steam
above the piston, and. by means of its short arm pushes forward a rod hinged
to the end of the short arm. The disk or head to which. the crank pin is
fixed has on the reverse side two pins with friction rollers in a line from the
crank: pin through the centre of the crank shaft and at equal distances from
.the centre. As the crank rises from its lowest position towards the highest,
and again from the highest to the lowest, one of the two friction rollers will
bear: against and raise the long arm of the bell-crank lever, as also the piston
rod of the small cylinder, and through the short arm at the same time with-
draw the rod hinged to the latter. At a certain position the friction roller
will clear the end of the long arm, and the steam of the small cylinder will
at the same instant depress it again, whereby the said rod will with its end in
the shape of half a fork, be pressed against the roller and force the crank over
its dead centre, the same operation will be repeated with the next friction
'roller and so on alternately in succession.
The construction of the steam boiler is likewise peculiar and novel. It is a
vertical cylindrical boiler with spherical top, a number of large tubes each
fitted with an inner tube of smaller bore reach from the top of the fire-box
downwards into the fire space. The object of the inner tubes is to cause a
circulation of the water down through the small tubes, and upwards arround
the small tubes, through the large tubes to the water above the top of the fire-
box, in the manner now well known. From the fire-box a number of flue pipes,
disposed in a circle, pass through the water and steam space to a chamber
formed by a "spherical covering above the spherical top of the boiler, and to
which spherical covering the funnel is attached.
The boiler and the spherical casing already mentioned is surrounded- and
covered by. a double jacket or casing forming an inner and an outer air space
and on the top of the boiler; these two casings form an inner and an outer
cylindrical box in which is placed on a vertical spindle a fan with obliquely
set blades. The escape steam from the cylinders passes into a large circular
tube placed horizontally round the top of the boiler between the inner and
outer jacket, and a. number of smaller tubes fixed into this tube reach down
between the inner and outer jacket, and dip with their open ends into the
feed water. which encircles the lower; part of the boiler. When the fan
driven from the crank shaft is in motion cold air is drawn in at the lower end

page_text: of the outer casing, and this cold air passing all around the small vertical
tubes will become partially heated and at the same time cause a portion of
the steam in the said tubes to condense and run into the feed water. The
air is drawn over the edge of the inner casing into the cylindrical fan box, and
by the fan it is forced down between the inner casing and the boiler and into
the furnace above and below the grate bars. The fan is loose on its spindle,
and when the speed of the engine is increasing the fan rises, and by doing so
raises the shorter arms of two levers, one of which is connected with the
throttle valve of the steam pipe and the other with a damper in the funnel.
The fan therefore serves the triple purpose of condensing the escape steam and
converting it into feed water, of supplying hot blast to the furnace, and; finally,
of regulating the speed of the engine. That part of the fire-box where the
fuel is introduced projects over the cylindrical part of the boiler, and instead
of having the door in front, as usual, the door is horizontal and hinged to the
boiler. On the top of the door a coal box is formed open at the top and
front, and whose back stands vertically against the boiler end! plates being
rounded towards the front to fit against a circular plate or shield which forms.
the front of the box for supplying the fuel to the furnace, the box is dis-
engaged in front and allow to drop round its hinged end. Before the bottom
of the box has cleared the lower part of the shield the back of the box will
have entered its upper end in such a manner that no cold air from without
is admitted to the fire-box when being replenished with fuel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Bischoff in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd September 1866..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BISCHOFF, of the Firm of Messrs. Streckeisen, Bischoff, and Company, of
No. 7, New Broad Street, in the City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Bischoff, Her special licence that I; the said John
Bischoff, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such. others as 1, the
said John Bischoff, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at

page_text: 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 "CER-
TAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM CULTIVATORS, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE
APPLICABLE TO TRACTION ENGINES AND TO PORTABLE ENGINES USED FOR OTHER
PURPOSES," being a communication from Robert Creuzbaur, of the City of
Austin, in the State of Texas, and United States of America, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said John Bischoff, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, 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 John Bischoff, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, 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):-
The first part of this Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign
correspondent, relates to improvements on machinery for the tillage of the
soil, and consists in the application to a travelling carriage, which is moved by
steam machinery, of one or more rotating frames, which are arranged to work
horizontally, and to carry a number of ploughs, coulters, shovels, or scarifying
blades according to the kind of work to be performed. These frames are
driven through gearing from the main shaft, which also communicates motion
to the driving wheels of the carriage. A certain relative speed is thus
preserved between the forward movements of the carriage and the rotatory
movements of the frames. Provision is made for elevating or depressing
one or all of the rotating frames, either while they are in motion or at rest,
and sustaining them at any desired point according to the depth at which it is
desired to stir the soil. Provision is also made under this part of the Inven-
tion for varying the speed of the carriage or of the tiller frames according to
the resistance to be overcome without varying the speed of the engine strokes,
and also for guiding, for stopping, or starting, and for reversing the move-
ments of the machine at the pleasure of the attendant, as will be herein-after
described.

page_text: The second part of the Invention relates to the adaptation of the machinery
employed in the tilling of the soil for digging trenches or ditches, and consists
in the use of a horizontal rotary frame, which is arranged beneath a steam.
carriage, and provided with suitable coulters for digging the soil, and also in
the use of a wheel which rotates in a vertical plane in rear of the digger, for
the purpose of elevating the loose earth, and discharging it either upon the
surface of the ground on each side of the machine, or depositing it upon an
endless apron to be delivered thereby into receptacles upon the sides of the
carriage, as will be herein-after described.
The third part of the Invention relates to an improvement in agricultural
steam engines, and consists in overcoming the dead points of a crank which is
rotated by a single piston rod working in a steam cylinder, by the employment
of a contrivance which shall automatically push the crank past the dead
points at the termination of every stroke of the piston, as will be herein-
after described.
Another part of the Invention relates to a fan governor or regulator, which
is so constructed and applied to the engine boiler that it serves all the
purposes of a governor for regulating the admission of steam to the steam
chest, besides serving as a means for furnishing a current of cold air for con-
densing the exhaust steam, and of causing such air after it is heated to pass
through the fire-chamber of the boiler, as will be herein-after described.
The last part of the Invention relates to a mode of constructing steam
boilers, which are adapted more particularly for agricultural carriages, and
consists in providing for heating and supplying heated air to the furnace
chamber, and for utilizing both fuel and water in working the engine, as will
be herein-after described.
In Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is a plan view of the
steam cultivator adapted for tilling land; and Fig. 2 is an elevation of one
side of the machine.
Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a
Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a
In Sheet II., Fig. 3 is a back elevation of the machine; Fig. 4 is a partial
sectional elevation of the same, taken at right angles to
transverse vertical section taken in the line 1, 2, of
vertical section through the centre of the boiler; and Fig. 7 is a sectional
plan of the same, taken in the line 3, 4, of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a section
shewing the fittings at the top of the boiler; and Figures 9 and 10 are
respectively side and plan views of a mode of applying adjustable shovels or
scrapers to the revolving frames of the cultivators.
In Sheets III. and IV. the arrangements for digging ditches are shewn,

page_text: Fig. 11 being a plan view, and Fig. 12 a side elevation of the same;
Fig. 13 shows in transverse vertical section a modification for throwing the
raised soil on the sides of the trench cut by the digging machine.
A, A, Sheets I. and II. is the carriage frame supported by two side wheels
B, B, and in front by a guide or castor wheel B¹. The wheel B' has a spring
between its yoke and the carriage frame for relieving the machinery upon this
frame from jar and concussion. The side wheels B are mounted on their
axle so as to admit of either being disengaged therefrom when it is desired to
turn the carriage short round; a sliding clutch or other like contrivance may
be used for this purpose. c is the cylinder of the enginé for giving motion to
the machine; d is the main driving shaft which extends longitudinally through
the centre of the carriage and carries on its rear end a bevilled pinion e which
engages with a bevilled wheel ƒ keyed to an upright shaft f, and serves to
drive that shaft. The shaft f¹ projects down below the carriage frame, and
receives upon its lower end the boss 1 of a wheel having four radial arms 2,
which are braced by means of a concentric ring 6. The wheel thus formed
carries four coulters 3, 3, which may be made of the shape shewn in the
Drawings, or of any other suitable shape; they are pivotted to the ends of the
arms 2, and rest in stirrups 5, to which they are fastened at the angles or
elbows by wooden pins. When either of the coulters meet with an obstruction
which would be liable to break or derange the machinery it is intended that
its wooden pin shall break and allow the coulter thus obstructed to fall back
and pass over the obstruction. The stirrups 5, to which the coulters are
pivotted, are secured firmly to the ring brace 6, and project beyond its cir-
cumference as shewn in the Figures. For agricultural purposes such as
ploughing up or loosening the soil, the coulters may be from twelve to
eighteen inches long and two to four inches wide, and they are intended to
cut and loosen the earth by rotating horizontally about the axis of the shaft f¹,
their outside edges are advanced sharp corners, which cut the land and draw
the loose earth inwards or towards the centre. For the cultivation of growing
crops shares and scrapers are used instead of the coulters, which, unlike the
coulters cut in their rear sweep as well as in front, that is to say, the conlters
in coming round in the rear meet loose earth cut by the front sweep while
those scrapers find work to do in their rear sweep which was not finished
in their front sweep.
The manner of arranging scrapers upon the revolving frames is shewn in
Figures 9 and 10. The sockets a, a, to which the shares are rivetted are
secured to the shanks b, b, by bayonet fastenings, the pins or knobs being on

page_text: the shanks b and the circular grooves and entering slots being on the sockets a.
To prevent the shares from turning and working loose from their respective
shanks b, regulating rods b¹ are provided, which are secured at one end to the
ring 6 by means of screw nuts, while their other ends drop into sockets formed
for them in the shares. By having a number of holes in the ring 6 to receive
the upper ends of the rods the shares or plates can be adjusted and set in
different positions for throwing more or less earth up to or from the rows of
plants under cultivation. The wheels B, B, which carry the machine are
driven by the same engine and through the medium of the same shaft d which
communicates motion to the rotary frames carrying the coulters or scrapers;
the machine must therefore have the capacity to vary its speed according to
the work to be done and the resistance offered; this is accomplished in the
following manner: The main shaft d has two loose bevil wheels g, g, which
gear into and alternately drive through a clutch g¹ the bevil wheel h, which
wheel is mounted on a short transverse shaft k. With the clutch g¹ in a central
position the transporting wheels B, B, do not revolve and the machine stands
still, but with the clutch g' forward or backward the machine will advance or
recede. The short transverse shaft which carries the bevil wheel h has
keyed to it a spur pinion h and a large spur wheel h²; the pinion h¹ engages
with the teeth of a large spur wheel mounted on a transverse shaft 1, and
the wheel engages with and drives the pinion
this shaft also carries three other pinions h³, h6,
respectively gear into the wheels 1, 2, 3, and
and this arrangement is calculated to give eight different rates of speed to the
carrying wheels B. The pinions h, h, h, & h are provided with clutching
devices for making them fast on their shaft 1 when it is desired to bring any
one of them into action for driving the main axle. When the clutches ; are
all disengaged from their wheels on the shaft the machine will remain
stationary notwithstanding the shaft may be rotated.
On each side of the coulter frame which is carried by the shaft f' a similar
coulter frame (see Fig. 1) is mounted; these frames are supported by pro-
jections from the carriage frame, and they are driven by means of chain
belts m, m, which pass around pulleys on the shafts of the coulter frames, and
may be crossed so as to rotate the frames in opposite directions. In cul-
tivating growing crops each one of these three horizontally rotating frames.
cultivates a row, the machine acting upon three rows at a time.
also on the same shaft 1;
and h. These four pinions
keyed on the main axle I,
When the machine is intended to be used for transporting loads on common
roads the coulter frames are removed, and when the engine is required to be

page_text: used a stationary power for driving farm machinery besides removing the
coulter frames the main shaft d must be lengthened out, and a belt wheel
applied on its rear end.
When employing the machine for making ditches, the two side frames
which carry the two outside rotary coulter frames are removed, and longer
arms 2 and a longer ring brace 6 are applied to the central shaft f¹ in order
to cut away the ground over which the wheels B, B, have moved, the wheels
in this case being set close up to. the carriage frame, as shewn by dotted lines
in Figures and 3. The larger and stronger circular frame which in this
case is. applied to the central shaft f¹ is fitted with coulters of a proper size
and strength. The clutches on the shaft 1 are also in this case adjusted so
as to bring such a sized pinion into action upon a wheel on the axle I of the
travelling wheels as will enable the engine to overcome the resistance offered.
The earth after it is loosened by the coulters is elevated by a bucket wheel D,
shewn in Figures 11, 12, and 13, Sheets III. and IV. and an endless apron
shewn in Figures 11 and 12, Sheets III. and IV. The large wheel D is
mounted on a hinged frame E, E, which frame is jointed to the main framing
of the carriage at E*. The wheel D is constructed with a number of buckets
on its: circumference,. the bottoms of which are inclined from the middle of the
width of the wheel outward, so as to discharge the loose earth. which is
elevated by them on each side of the machine through openings which are
made, in the, sides of the wheel. When it is required to discharge the earth
on each side of the ditch inclined planes or shields F, F, (Fig. 13) are applied
to the hinged. frame. B2, B². As. the earth is discharged on to the inclined
planes or. shields F, F, it will be conducted off. laterally and deposited some
distance from the sides, of the, machine; and of, the ditch. When it is desired
to deposit the earth which is elevated from the ditch, by the wheel D. upon the
machine, as shown in Figures 11 and 12 of Sheets III, and IV., endless. belts
or aprons G are applied on each side of the. hinged frame E, and provided
with suitable buckets. for. receiving the earth discharged from the bucket
wheel or elevator D.; these aprons. G will be arranged so as to deliver the
earth into tanks H, H, which. are attached to the sides of the carriage frame.
The lifting wheel D is not so wide as the ditch cut by the revolving coulters,
but the latter by their shape and movement throw the soil toward the middle
of the ditch, and thus obviate the necessity for employing contrivances other
than the coulters for this purpose. When the two tanks H, H, are filled the
elevating wheel D is raised sufficiently high to clear the ground by the
adjusting screw D2, shown in Figures 11 and 12, and the coulters with their

page_text: frame are also elevated free from the ground by means of a hand wheel, as
will be presently described; the load of earth is then carried off and deposited
wherever it may be desired.
The adjusting device for raising and lowering the coulter frames is shown
in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, and may be described as follows:r, r. are vertical
rack bars which work in suitable guides, and which are respectively attached
at their lower ends by yokes to the collars on the shafts f', but so as to
leave these collars free to rotate. The racks r. r, engage with spur
pinions p, p, on a horizontal transverse shaft s, to which the hand wheel
is secured, and thus provision is made for elevating and depressing the
three coulter frames simultaneously. In Figures 12 and 13 a similar
arrangement should be adopted for elevating or depressing the central rotary
tiller.
The engine applied to the above-described machine has only one working
steam cylinder, and in order to overcome the dead points the following
arrangement, which constitutes the third head of the Invention, is employed.
A small cylinder n (see Fig. 5) is attached to the main cylinder c, and is
provided with a piston and piston rod. Above the piston the cylinder n is in
communication with the steam chest and below the piston with the escape
steam, the latter to keep the cylinder heated and prevent condensation above
the piston. The piston rod is connected by a connecting rod n¹ and link to
the long arm o of a crank lever that rocks on a stud carried by the framing of
the carriage. The other arm. o' of this crank lever is jointed to a rod q that is
formed at its free end to bear against the pin of the crank on the driving
shaft d, to which pin the connecting rod from the piston of the main cylinder c
is jointed. The crank on the shaft d is double, and has two pins and two
friction rollers r, r, applied to its ends as shewn in Figure 5. As the crank
rotates the advancing crank pin or roller (say r¹) will push up the arm o,. and
with it the piston rod n', and at the same time the short arm o' will draw back
the rod q. When by the rotation of the crank shaft d the crank pin has passed
the end of the arm o, the pressure of the steam on the piston in the cylinder n
will bear down the arm o and carry forward the short arm o¹ and the rod q
attached to it. The end of this rod q will thus be caused to bear against the
crank. pin and carry it past the dead point as shewn by the dotted lines,
and the other crank pin " will then in like manner engage with the arm o
and throw it up into its elevated position, thereby drawing back the arm q
into a position to repeat its action upon the crank shaft at the next dead
point. The escape steam from the single working cylinder above described

page_text: passes into the main pipe S; Fig. 6, which Figure illustrates the improve-
ments in the boiler which remain to be described. The boiler is dome
shaped and is jacketed, and at the base of the dome within the jacket the pipe
S is placed. The boiler is preferred to be of the internal construction shewn
in the sectional elevation, Fig. 6, that is, having a ring of water tubes passing
through the fire chamber, and a ring of flues (above the water tubes) passing
through the steam space, but this arrangement is not deemed essential; or as
forming any part of this Invention. From the main pipe S a number of smaller
pipes s', s, hang down and enter the feed-water tank t, which encircles the
lower part of the boiler. Over the steam dome is situate the blast fan u,
Figures 6 and 8, which serves to draw in cold air at a lateral opening t',
extending around the casing of the boiler. This cold air in its upward course
passes all around the small pendent pipes s¹, and more or less condenses the
steam therein. The air thus heated passes to the fan chamber, as indicated
by the arrows, Fig. 8, from which it is forced by the fan u down and around
the main shell of the boiler and thence into the furnace, both above and below
the fire grate, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 6. The fan is so con-
structed as to slide freely up and down on its spindle, and its hub is embraced
by the forked ends of a pair of rock levers v, v¹, Fig. 8. The object of
mounting the blast fan so that it may slide upon its spindle is to enable it to
rise when an excess of speed is imparted to it, and in doing so it will cause
the levers, ¹, to rock. These levers, ¹, are attached respectively to the
throttle and damper valves. The rocking, therefore, of the valves from the
speed of the fan being unduly increased will cause the valves to check the
supply of air to the furnace. and of steam to the engine, and thereby afford
the proper regulation to the engine and boiler. Thus it will be understood
that the fan serves the several purposes of drawing in cold air for condensing
the waste steam, of furnishing heated air to the furnace, and of regulating the
speed of the engine.
To provide for the exclusion of air from the furnace while fuel is being
introduced therein, and thus to prevent the efficient action of the fan from
being interfered with, the oscillating door y (see the sectional view Figures 6
and 7) is used. This door is hinged to a segmental-shaped casing, and it
is fitted with a back plate y¹ and end pieces 2 forming therewith a kind of
open hopper. The fuel is placed in this hopper, and by means of a crank
handle the door is upset so as to deposit its contents into the furnace; at
the same time the back plate y will rest upon the edge of the segment plate y
and close the opening. By this arrangement cold air is excluded from the

page_text: furnace, while at the same time hot air is forced into it, whereby the com-
bustion of the fuel will be facilitated and an economy effected.
In Figures 1, 2, and 3, the machine is represented complete and ready for
operating between rows of plants, the two outer rotary tillers being in place.
In these Figures the details not yet referred to will be clearly traced. The
carriage frame A is fitted with a platform and housing for enclosing the shafts
and gearing which communicates motion to the carriage and to the rotary
tiller. The steam cylinder c as will be seen is mounted in the rear of the
vertical boiler C which carries, as before stated, a fan chamber at top; c' is the
smoke pipe, and c2 the steam pipe leading into the steam chest, and provided
with a valve that is acted upon, as before stated, through the lever v¹ and rod
by means of the fan u, while the lever vacts upon a damper in the smoke
pipe c'. The spindle c³ of the fan u in the fan chamber is rotated by means
of bevil gearing set in motion by a belt which passes over a pulley on the
main shaft d, and also over a pulley on the shaft c', which carries the wheel
for driving a pinion on the fan spindle.
Having now set forth the nature of the Improvements in Steam Cultivators,
Parts of which Improvements are applicable to Traction Engines and to
Portable Engines used for other Purposes," I wish it to be understood that
under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,-
First, the use of one or more horizontal rotating frames provided with
coulters or shovels and applied to a steam carriage, and capable of being
elevated or depressed while in motion or at rest in the manner and for the
purpose above set forth.
Second, the arrangement above described for communicating rotary motion
to the coulter frames and the axle of the travelling wheels.
Third, the means above described for carrying the crank shaft over
its dead points, and thereby enabling a single engine to drive that shaft.
Fourth, the application to the boiler of a fan or blower for supplying
heated air to the furnace, and so mounted that it will rise and fall upon
its spindle, and thereby operate throttle and damper valves with which
it is connected, and thus regulate the speed of the engine, substantially as
described.
Fifth, the arrangement of steam pipes within the outer jacket of the boiler
for conducting the condensed steam into a water tank surrounding the boiler,
substantially as described.
Sixth, the arrangement above described for preventing a rush of air into the
furnace when supplying the same with fuel.
1

page_text: Lastly, the arrangement of the rotary elevator upon an adjustable frame
behind a series of horizontal rotating cutters for the purpose of elevating the
earth which is loosened by those cutters, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Bischoff, have hereunto set my hand.
and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
J. BISCHOFF. (L.S.).