IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PLOUGHS AND OTHER TILLING IMPLEMENTS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Howard, of Bedford, in the County of
Bedford, Agricultural Engineer, and Edward Tenney Bousfield, of
the same Place, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF PLOUGHS AND OTHER TILLING IMPLEMENTS.”
Sealed the 8th October 1872, and dated the 8th May 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Howard and
Edwary Tenney Bousfield at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 8th May 1872.
We, JAMES HOWARD, of Bedford, in the County of Bedford, Agri-
3 cultural Engineer, and EDWARD TENNEY BOUSFIELD, of the same Place,
Engineer, dohereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PLOUGHS AND OTHER TILLING IMPLEMENTS,”
to be as follows :-
The object of this Invention is, 1st, to provide for the raising of tilling
implements out of work, and lowering them into work, and 2ndly, for
reversing their action.
When applying the first part of the Invention to ploughs and other
tilling implements having jointed beams or jointed frames, as described

page_text: in a Patent granted to James Howard and T. Phillips, dated 3rd No-
vember 1870, No. 2898, the draught chain is attached in the first
place to an arm or pendent projection upon and underneath the fore part
of the beams or framework, to which the leading wheels are fixed. The
draught chain is thence carried backward in rear of the beam joints, and
passed over a guide pulley secured to the framework, or the draught
chain may be divided, and its ends attached to the opposite ends of
a swinging cross beam. From this point the draught chain is brought
forward to the head of the implement.
When the implement is at work the joints in the beams are kept rigid
by a lever and quadrant provided for the purpose (and also for the
purpose of regulating the depth of work), and the draught chain is free
to work up and down in a vertically slotted link formed upon the lower
part of the hake or sliding head. We sometimes pass the draught chain
through an eye below the beams in rear of the wheels, the altitude of 1
which eye can be adjusted.
When the implement has arrived at the end of a field, and it is
necessary to raise it out of work, the attendant releases the lever from
the quadrant. Immediately this is effected the continued pull of the
horses upon the draught chain will tend to knuckle up the jointed beam, 2
and thus lift the shares clear of the ground.
When adapting the Invention to ploughs and other tilling implements
with rigid in contradistinction to jointed beams, we attach the draught
chain to one end of a rock lever, and to the other end thereof (at the
opposite side of the fulcrum) we apply a carrying wheel, which may 2
serve as the ordinary land wheel, or may be an additional wheel. On
arriving at the end of the field, upon the hand lever being released by
the attendant, as in the arrangement with jointed beams, the continued
pull of the horses upon the draught chain lowers the wheel above
referred to, and thus raises the shares clear of the ground.
8
In order to raise steam tilling implements out of work by means of
the draught repe, the draught and slack ropes are laid in opposite
directions over a drum or pulley, and made fast thereto. This drum is
keyed to the rear axle of the implement, and the axle is cranked at its
ends to receive a pair of carrying wheels, which when the implement is 3
advancing turn freely on their axle. The drum or pulley is fitted with
a lateral projection, and the frame is provided with an interrupting stop,
which will prevent the drum making a completo rotation.

page_text: When the rope leading off from the under side of the pulley is the
draft rope, the projection on the pulley will be at or near the upper
side of the stop, but when on the arrival of the implement at the land's
end the draught is put on the rope leading from the other side of the
pulley, that rope will pull round the pulley (causing it to bring its pro-
jection under the stop of the plough frame), and at the same time cause
the cranked axle to make nearly a complete revolution. The effect of
this movement will be to raise the implement out of the ground, and
enable the attendant to steer it into new ground. While this is being
done the draught rope will by continuing to turn the drum or pulley
again raise the wheels, or rather lower the implement into its work.
In this arrangement it will be understood that the raising and lowering
of the implement is automatic.
To reverse with facility the action of the balance ploughs when drawn
by horses, we pivot on an adjustable hake attached to the balance frame
near its centre, a bow-shaped draught iron, which circumscribes one of
the wheels or wheel standards. This bow is fitted with a draught link,
which is free to slide from one end to the other thereof as the horses are
moved round to reverse the direction of the plough. The draught
therefore of the horses will thus be transmitted by this sliding link to
either end of the bow at the same time that the proper angle of the
draught is maintained.
In place of using the bow the like object may be attained by mounting
a hake on a central vertical axle, which hake will be free to turn thereon,.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Howard and Edward Tenney Bousfield in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 8th November 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JAMES
HOWARD, of Bedford, in the County of Bedford, Agricultural Engineer,
and EDWARD TENNEY BOUSFIELD, of the same Place, Engineer, send
ametine

page_text: Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-fifth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto us, the said James Howard and Edward Tonney Bousfield,
Her special licence that we, the said James Howard and Edward Tenney
Bousfield, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as we, the said James Howard and Edward Tenney Bousfield, 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
THE CONSTRUCTION OF PLOUGES AND OTHER TILLING IMPLEMENTS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that we, the said James Howard and Edward
Tenney Bousfield, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our, 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 Edward Tenney Bousfield, on behalf
of myself and of the said James Howard, do hereby declare the nature
of our 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 object of this Invention is first to provide for the raising of tilling
implements out of work, and lowering them into work, and secondly,
for reversing their action.
In Sheet I. of the Drawings Figures 1 and 2 shew an arrangement
for effecting the raising of the tilling implements out of work by the
draught of the horses, the Invention being illustrated in connection
with a plough having jointed beams or jointed frames as described in
a Patent granted to James Howard and Thomas Phillips, dated Third
November One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, No. 2898.
Fig. 1 is a plan view, and Fig. 2 a longitudinal sectional elevation of

page_text: A, A', are the beams to which the fore carriage B, B, is jointed at
the points C, C'; one of the side bars of this carriage is cranked as
at B', Fig. 2, to form a pendent arm or projection beneath the carriage.
Affixed to this arm B' and extending rearwards is a hand lever D which
works over a notched vertical quadrant E, bolted to but standing off.
from the side of the main plough beam A. This hand lever carries a
spring bolt d, which enters the notches in the quadrant and serves to
keep the jointed frame rigid when the plough is at work as well as
maintaining the shares in their adjusted position. F is a horizontal
rock bar carried by a pivot pin pendent from the main beam A, and
connected to the opposite ends of this bar are draught rods G, G. Tho
rod G connects by a link with the cranked arm B', and the rod G' is led
forward to the head of the implement, where it will be free to work up
and down in a vertically slotted link g, formed upon the lower part of
the bake or sliding head (see the detached view Fig. 3), to allow of tho
self-adjustment vertically of the line of the draught.
In order that the pull of the draught horses may lift the ploughs out
of work when the implement has arrived at the end of a field it is
only necessary for the attendant to release the lever D from the notched
quadrant E. Immediately this is effected the continued pull of the
horses upon the draught rods will cause the jointed beam to knuckle
up into the dotted position of Fig. 2, and thereby lift the shares clear
of the ground.
An obvious modification of the above described arrangement is shewn
at Fig. 4, where a pulley is substituted for the rock bar F, and a chain
for the draught rods G and G³, one end of the chain being made
fast to the crank arm B³, and the other end being led forward to
the hake.
We sometimes pass the draught chain or rod through an eye below
the framing B and in rear of the leading wheels, as shewn by dots at H,
Fig. 2. This eye should admit of receiving a vertical adjustment to suit
the vertical angle of the draught to the various heights of shoulder of
the horses. When adapting this part of our Invention to ploughs and
other tilling instruments with rigid in contradistinction to jointed beams
we attach the draught rod or chain to a rock lever which is fitted
with a carrying wheel for supporting the weight of the tilling im-
plements when lifted out of the ground. This arrangement is also

page_text: shewn in Sheet I. of the Drawings, Fig. 5 being a plan view of a plough
with a rigid frame or beams, and Fig. 6 a vertical section of the same.
I is a cranked rock lever having for its fulcrum a pin K carried by
a bracket of the frame. This rock lever is fitted at one end with a
carrying wheel L, and it is jointed at its other end with a tipping &
rod M, which hooks on to or drops into the notches of a transverse bar M
for the purpose of retaining the rock lever in the desired position.
A little above the fulcrum K the draught rod O is linked to a rock
lever I.
When the implement is in work the rock lever and its attachments 1
will be in the dotted position shewn at Fig. 6, but when the implement
has arrived at the headland and it is desired to raise the ploughs or
other tilling instruments out of the ground, the attendant has simply
to release the hook of the tipping rod M from the bar N, and the
continued pull of the horses will bring down the carrying wheel to the 1
ground or into the drawn position of Fig. 6, when the shares will be
lifted clear of the ground. In order to remove the necessity for the
attendant under any circumstances to supplement the pull of the
draught horses we provide the pendent end of the rock lever I with
a claw I', which as the wheel L drops will enter the ground and draw 2
in deeper as the plough proceeds, thereby causing the wheel L to take
the weight of the ploughs. The attendant has then merely to lock
the rock lever in its vertical position by means of the rod M and notch
bar N.
In Sheet II., of the Drawings our improvements in steam tilling imple- 2
ments are shewn. The object of these improvements is, first, to raise
the tines clear of the ground, and, secondly, to reverse the position of the
implement to bring it into a position to act upon new ground.
Fig. 7 shews in plan view so much of the implement as will serve to
explain the nature of the Invention, and Fig. 8 is a longitudinal vertical 3
section of the same. This implement is supposed to be worked by ropes
A, A', from the opposite headlands, which ropes are led respectively
over guide pulleys B, B³, B², mounted at the front end of the implement
and carried back to a divided drum or drums C, C', keyed on to the
shaft D of the rear carrying wheels E. This shaft is cranked at its 3
opposite ends so that when turned in its bearings it will raise or lower
the frame of the implement, and thereby lift the tines out of or drop
them into the ground. On the middle beam of the frame is secured a

page_text: fixed stop F, which lies between the drums C, C', and from the inner
faces of these drums project tappets c, which as the drums are rotated in
either direction serve to arrest their motion by striking against the
upper or under side (as the case may be) of the fixed stop F. The ropes
A, A¹, are laid in opposite directions around their respective pulleys, and
their ends are made fast thereto. This arrangement is required to.
ensure the taking up of the slack rope while the draught rope is giving
out. In the Drawing the implement is shewn in the position which it`
will assume the moment after the slack rope has become the draught
rope, that is to say, when the implement has completed one bout and its
tines have just been raised clear of the ground preparatory to turning
the implement. At this time the rope A will be the draught rope, and ·
the continued pull upon it will cause the implement to turn on the near
rear wheel as a fulcrum and lap the slack rope A¹ round the pulley B³.
When the position of the implement has been thus reversed the tappets
c will have been pulled over into contact with the fixed stop F, and a
half turn being thus given to the crank shaft D the tines will be
lowered into the ground. The work will then proceed as before. When
the implement has advanced to the headland and the draught has been
) reversed (the slack rope A' becoming the draught rope), the drums will
be pulled round so as to bring the tappets c under the fixed stop F, in
which position they will remain until the completion of the next
succeeding bout. G is a sliding stop fitted to the central beam and
intended to clasp the tappets c and prevent the axle from turning when
3 it has attained the position for lifting the tines clear of the ground.
This stop will be used only when the implement is being transferred
from place to place.
The last part of our Invention relates to the reversing with facility
the action of balance ploughs when drawn by horses. To this end we
O employ the arrangement illustrated by Sheet III. of the Drawings.
Fig. 9 is a plan view of so much of a balance plough as will serve to
explain the application of our improvement thereto. Fig. 10 is a longi-
tudinal vertical section of the same taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig, 9; and
Fig. 11 is a transverse vertical section taken in the line 3, 4, of Fig. 9.
5 The improvement consists in the application to the balance frame of a
bow shaped draught iron A, which circumscribes one of the wheels or
wheel standards. The mode of connecting the bow A to the plough
frame will be clearly understood by reference to Figures 12, 18, and 14,

page_text: Fig 12 being a longitudinal sectional elevation of the middle of the
plough, Fig. 13, a partial plan view of the same, and Figs. 14, detached
views of the coupling pieces. Bolted to the under side of the frame at
the middle of its length is a transverse strap piece B, formed with a pair
of lugs to which is jointed a pendent forked piece C, pivotted below this
joint is a pair of links D, to which are jointed the diagonal tic rods E,
the upper ends of which are made fast to the cranked plough frame. To
the forked picce O is jointed a pin F, which carries the bow shaped
draught iron A, and allows it to turn thereon and to tip as if fitted to a
swivel pin. This mode of fitting the bow A allows of it swinging round
from the drawn position at Fig. 13 to the dotted position of that Figure
when the direction of the draught is reversed, and the jointing of the
pin to the forked piece O permits of the tipping of the draught iron to
adapt itself to the inclination of the draught chain. The prongs of the
forked piece O act as stops and limit the rocking movement of the
draught iron. This bow shaped draught iron is fitted with a draught
link G, which is free to slide from one end to the other thereof as the
horses are moved round to reverse the direction of the plough. The
draught therefore of the horses will be transmitted by this sliding link
alternately to the opposite ends of the bow at the same time that the
proper angle of the draught is maintained by the swivel joint.
In place of using the bow shaped draught iron, the like object may be
attained by mounting a hake H (see Fig. 15) on a central vertical axle I,
which hake will be free to turn thereon, the draught chain being
attached to the hake by a suitable link. In this arrangement the link
passes over the land wheel instead of circumscribing it.
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention of "Improvements in
the Construction of Ploughs and other Tilling Implements," and explained
the manner of carrying the same into effect, we wish it to be understood
that under the above in part recited Letters Patent we claim,-
First. The means above described for lifting out of work the shares,
tines, or coulters of ploughs and other tilling implements made with
jointed beams, by the action of the draught.
3
Second. The means above described for lifting the shares, tines, or
coulters of ploughs and other tilling implements constructed with rigid 3
beams or frames, through the action of the draught.

page_text: Third. The arrangement above described for lifting the shares, tincs,
or coulters of steam cultivators out of work and reversing the action of
such cultivators.
Fourth. The means above described for reversing the direction of the
draught of balance ploughs.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Tenney Bousfield, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Eighth day of November in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.
EDWARD TENNEY BOUSFIELD. (L.S.)