IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Hornsby and James Edwin Phillips, both
of Spittlegate Ironworks, Grantham, in the County of Lincoln, for
the Invention of " IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS."
Scaled the 6th June 1871, and dated the 13th April 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Hornsby and
James Edwin Phillips at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 13th April 1871.
We, RICHARD HORNSBY and JAMES EDWIN PHILLIPS, both of Spittle-
gate Ironworks, Grantham, in the County of Lincoln, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PLOUGHS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in ploughs.
Ploughs are now commonly constructed in which the thrust of the
mould board is sustained by an oblique wheel running in the angle
of the furrow immediately behind the mould board. We employ two
wheels for this purpose. One of these wheels presses laterally on the

page_text: side of the furrow, and this wheel we get well forward underneath the
mould board, so that the lateral pressure in front and in rear of it is to
some extent balanced. The other wheel is in rear of the mould board
and upright; it is at some distance from the angle of the furrow, so that
in case any of the soil has fallen in it may not have to ride over it. In
double or multiple furrow ploughs this arrangement is applied to the
hinder plough, and in front of the leading plough there is arranged
a similar wheel pressing on the side of the last furrow and an upright
wheel running on the sole of the furrow at a distance from the angle.
In place of the lateral wheel a slade or sledge runner may be employed.
When turning the last furrow or finishing with a double furrow plough
we apply in front of and in the course of the hinder plough a leg or
support provided with a wheel or sledge runner and resting on the sole
of the furrow to steady the plough in place of setting the land wheel to
run on the ploughed land. We connect the beams of double furrow
ploughs by means of cross bars and clamps. The beam and the cross
bar both pass through the clamp and a screw binds them tightly
together. This arrangement admits of the distance between the ploughs
being very readily adjusted. The beams are bent where the plough
frames or bodies are clamped to them to allow the size and weight of
the frames or bodies to be lessened.
We sometimes fix on the plough a wheel to run on the ploughed land
in the furrows between the spits of soil which the plough has turned;
this wheel presses the bottom of the furrow and makes it fit to receive
seed, and the wheel also aids in supporting the plough. We also mount
a seed box on the plough behind the press wheel to sow seed into the
furrow, the delivering apparatus is driven from the press wheel. In
double furrow ploughs we employ two such press wheels, and at the
headlands we depress them to assist in lifting the ploughs out of their
work. Or we sometimes lift the implement by means of two quadrants
on a transverse axis; by turning the axis partly round the quadrants are
brought down on to the ground, and they serve as legs on which the
implement stands.
To secure the coulter to the beam we employ as heretofore a clip
piece which by a screw staple is made to bind the coulter to the beam.
We form jaws on the clip piece in which the coulter is held.
clip piece has an adjusting screw resting on the top of the beam, by
means of which its inclination to the beam can be varied, and as the
The

page_text: clip piece has a firm hold of the coulter by means of its jaws the
inclination of the coulter to the beam can thus be adjusted.
We form the entire upper surface and the cutting edge of the plough-
share of a sheet of steel rivetted on to the cast socket of the share,
sometimes we make the steel plate in two parts so that the point
when worn may be separately renewed. We also make cast shares with
renewable points. The share is cast in two parts and the point portion
fits on to the main share in the same way as this fits on the nose of the
frame or body. The draft iron we pass through a guide with a vertical
stem, which is secured by a screw clip to a socket piece which can be
set in any desired position on an are in which the plough beam
terminates. The adjustment of the draft bar both vertically and hori
zontally is thus very readily obtained.
If it be desired to subsoil or stir the sole of the plough furrow we
employ a subsoil tine fixed to the extremity of a bar which is jointed at
its other end to the lower part of the plough frame or body, or otherwise,
so as to be close down upon the sole of the furrow that the tine which
is curved may be able to draw itself into the land. The leading furrow
wheel we mount on an arm projecting forward from a vertical axis,
which can be set higher or lower at pleasure by means of a collar clipt
upon it between its bearings, which are also adjustable in a similar
manner along a horizontal bar. A long steering handle is fixed on the
upper end of this axis and extends back to the rear of the plough.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Richard Hornsby and James Edwin Phillips in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 12th October 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, RICHARD
HORNSBY and JAMES EDWIN PHILLIPS, both of Spittlegate Ironworks,
Grantham, in the County of Lincoln, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said Richard Hornsby and James Edwin Phillips,

page_text: Her special license, that we, the said Richard Hornsby and James Edwin
Phillips, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we,
the said Richard Hornsby and James Edwin Phillips, 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 PLOUGHS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Richard Hornsby
and James Edwin Phillips, our executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand
and seal of one of us or them, 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 we, the said Richard Hornsby and James
Edwin Phillips, 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 thereof, that is to
say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in ploughs.
Ploughs are now commonly constructed in which the thrust of the mould
board is sustained by an oblique wheel running in the angle of the furrow
immediately behind the mould board. We employ two wheels for this
purpose. One of these wheels presses laterally on the side of the furrow,
and this wheel we get well forward underneath the mould board, so that
the lateral pressure in front and in rear of it is to some extent balanced.
The other wheel is at the rear of the mould board and upright; it is at
some distance from the angle of the furrow, so that in case any of the
soil has fallen in it may not have to ride over it. In double or multiple
furrow ploughs this arrangement is applied to the hinder plough.
In Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawings annexed we have shewn a plan
view and side view of a double furrow plough with a vertical and hori
zontal wheel applied, as above described, to the hinder plough. In these
Figures a is the wheel to take the horizontal thrust. This whcel is
made slightly conical, as shewn, and is set slightly at an angle, so
that its periphery where it bears against the side of the furrow may be

page_text: vertical or nearly so, whilst the under side of the wheel rises up clear
of the bottom of the furrow, so as to avoid any friction which might
arise from its rubbing against it. The way in which we prefer to carry
this wheel from the cast body of the plough is shewn clearly in the
cross section, Figure 3. The wheel, as shewn, is in such a position
that the lateral pressure in front and rear of it is balanced, or nearly so.
The vertical wheel b, as shewn at Figure 1, is set to run in the furrow
at some distance from the angle, and the pin or axle on which it turns
is carried by a vertical stem c, which passes up through a cast socket
picce d clamped to one of the longitudinal beams of the framing of the
plough by a screw bolt e, as shewn. This bolt also serves to clamp the
vertical stem c between the socket piece d and the beam of the plough,
and so hold it securely.
What we claim as respects this part of our Invention is, the employ-
ment of two wheels, substantially as above described, to sustain the
vertical and lateral thrust of a plough.
For the purpose of turning the last furrow, or finishing with a double
furrow plough, we apply in front of and in the course of the hinder
plough a leg or support provided with a wheel or sledge runner and
resting on the sole of the furrow to steady the plough, in place of setting
the land wheel to run on the ploughed land.
In the plough shewn at Figure 1 of the Drawings there is such a
support applied in front of the rearmost plough. f is the supporting
sledge, or it might be a wheel, as before stated. The sledge or wheel
is carried by a vertical stem g, and this stem is secured by a clamping
socket * to the foremost cross bar of the frame of the plough. The
sledge or wheel fis, except when turning over the finishing furrow
raised, so that it does not come into contact with the land. When,
however, a breadth of land has been ploughed by the plough, and the
last or finishing furrow between them has to be turned over, the land
wheel of the plough is raised out of action and the wheel or sledge ƒ is
lowered, so that it may bear on the bottom of a furrow, as shewn at
the diagram view, Figure 4. The leading plough is also raised, or the
trailing plough might be lowered, and to enable this to be done the
plough is connected to the beam in the manner herein-after described,
in such a manner that it can be raised or lowered, and set, if desired,
more horizontally in each position. The plough is drawn over the
narrow breadth of unploughed land between the two sets of furrows.

page_text: The land will be turned over in the manner shown by the dotted lines,
the deeper plough turning over a small depth of the bottom of the
furrow in which the wheel or sledge was running, and so making a
good finish where the two sets of furrows meet one another.
What we claim as respects this part of our Invention is, the application
of a wheel or sledge in front of the rearmost plough of a double or
multiple furrow plough to bo brought into action when turning the
last or finishing furrows, substantially as herein described.
We also claim the connecting the body of the leading plough or of
the trailing plough of double furrow ploughs to its beam in such a
manner that it can be raised or lowered independently of the other for
the purpose of adjusting the ploughs for beginning and finishing. The
beams of double furrow ploughs we connect by means of cross bars and
clamps. The beam and the cross bar both pass through the clamp, and
a screw binds them tightly together. This arrangement admits of the
distance between the ploughs being very readily adjusted. The beams
are bent where the plough frames or bodies are clamped to them to
allow the size and weight of the frames or bodies to be lessened. The
frame of the double-furrow plough, shewn at Figures 1 and 2, is thus
constructed :—h, h, are the two longitudinal beams connected by the
clamps with the cross bars k. The beams and bars both pass
through the clamps i, as shewn clearly at Figure 2, and they are bound
tightly together by the clamping screw bolt 1, which screws through the
top of the clamps i and bears at its end on the top of the beam.
A modification of this arrangement is shewn at Figure 2*, which
shews a plan view of a portion of a double furrow plough. In this
modification one beam only is used, and it carries the hinder plough by
cross bars projecting from it, and to which the plough body or frame
is clamped in the manner shewn by the Drawing. The beams h, h,
of the plough are also, as shown at Figure 2, bent downwards where the
plough bodies are to be clamped to them to allow the size and weight
of the bodies to be lessened. The manner in which we prefer to clamp
the plough bodies to the beams is also clearly shown by the Drawings.
They are secured by forked clamps which embrace the beams and
pass through slots or holes in the plough bodies and have bolts screwed
on to them as shown. This allows of one plough being raised or lowered
independently of the other, and yet of its always being set in a horizontal
position if desired.

page_text: What we claim as respects this part of our Invention is,-
1. The connecting together the beams and cross bars of double or
multiple furrow ploughs, substantially in the manner above described.
2. We also claim the modification shewn at Figure 2* where the body
or frame of the hinder plough is clamped to arms standing out from
the plough beams.
3. We also claim the bending downward of the beams of double or
multiple furrow ploughs where the plough bodies are to be attached
to them, and at the same time clamping the ploughs thereto, substan-
tantially as described and shewn at Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawings.
We sometimes fix on the plough a wheel to run on the ploughed
land in the hollow or furrows between the spits of soil which the plough
has turned; this wheel presses the bottom of the furrow and makes
it fit to receive seed and the wheel also aids in supporting the plough.
We also mount a seed box on the plough behind the press whical to
sow seed into the furrow. The delivering apparatus is driven from the
press wheel.
In double furrow ploughs we employ two such press
wheels, and at the headlands we depress them to assist in lifting the
ploughs out of work.
The
Figure 5 shews a plan view, and Figure 5* a side view of a single
furrow plough having a wheel m thus applied to it to run in the
hollows between the spits of soil which the plough has turned.
axle m of this wheel has vertical standards m² connected to it, and
these rise up through clamping pieces by which they are clamped
to the handles of the plough. The wheel m has driving pulleys m
attached to it, and one or other of these by a belt passed over it gives
motion to the seed delivering apparatus which may be of any ordinary
construction. The box or case of the seed delivering apparatus is, as
shewn, carried by arms bolted or secured to the plough handle.
At Figures 6 and 6* are shewn a plan view and side view of a
double furrow plough having pressing wheels and seed delivering
apparatus similarly combined with it. The wheels are carried by an
arm on the axis which carries the lifting and land wheel, so that the
pressing wheels also act as lifting wheels when the plough is to be raised
out of work to be turned at a headland. The pressing wheels in this case
may be used either with or without the seed delivering apparatus.
What we claim as respects this part of our Invention is, the combining
with ploughs press wheels to run in the hollows between the spits of

page_text: soil which the ploughs have turned, together with seed delivery apparatus
to deliver seed into such hollows, substantially as above described.
We also claim the employment of press wheels which also act as
lifting wheels in double or multiple furrow ploughs, substantially as
described.
For lifting ploughs out of the ground we also propose to employ two
quadrants on a transverse axis; by turning the axis partly round the
quadrants are brought down on to the ground, and they serve as legs
on which the implement stands. Two quadrants thus carried by a
transverse axis are shown applied to a double furrow plough at Figures 1
and 2. In these Figures o, o, are the quadrants on the transverse
axis P.
One of these quadrants is by a link p³ connected with the
lever arm 7.
When the ploughs are to be raised out of the ground
the lever is drawn backwards, thus lowering the quadrants on to the
ground, and so causing the ploughs as the implement moves forward
to be lifted out of work.
What we claim as respects this part of our Invention is, the employ-
ment of two quadrants on a transverse axis for raising ploughs out
of work, substantially as above described.
To secure the coulter to the beam we employ as heretofore a clip
piece, which by a screw staple is made to bind the coulter to the beam.
We form jaws on the clip piece, in which the coulter is held. The clip
piece has an adjusting screw resting on the top of the beam, by means
of which its inclination to the beam can be varied, and as the clip piece
has a firm hold of the coulter by means of its jaws the inclination of the
coulter to the beam can thus be adjusted.
Figure 7 shows a side view, and Figure 8 a transverse section of such
an arrangement for connecting the coulters to the beams of ploughs.
In these Figures r, r, are the coulters; s, the clip piece, with jaws 8*
upon it, between which the stem of the coulter fits (these jaws are
shewn at Figure 8*); 81, the screw staple; 5, an arm on the clip piece,
through which screws a screw bolts, which at its end bears upon the
top of the beam of the plough frame. By turning this screw the
inclination of the coulter can be adjusted.
What we claim as respects this part of our Invention is, the means
above described of connecting coulters to the beams of ploughs, whereby
their inclination can be adjusted, substantially as described.

page_text: We form the entire upper surface and the cutting edge of the plough-
share of a sheet of steel, rivetted on to the cast socket of the share.
Sometimes we make the steel plate in two parts, so that the point when
worn may be separately renewed. We also make cast shares with points
renewable; the share is cast in two parts, and the point portion fits
on to the main share in the same way as this fits on to the nose of
the frame or body.
Figure 9 shews a plan view, and Figure 10 a vertical section of a
ploughshare having a sheet of steel s rivetted on to the upper surface
of the cast socket t, as above described. In the ploughshare shewn in
these Figures there is also a separate nose picce u rivetted to the under
side of the forward point or nose of the plate s, which nose piece u can
readily be renewed whenever it becomes worn. The plate & might also,
if desired, be made in two parts, so that when the forward nose becomes
worn it might readily be renewed.
At Figure 11 is shewn a plan view, and at Figure 12 a vertical section
of a cast share with a point capable of being renewed as above described
when it becomes worn. In these Figures is the point or nose which
is fixed on to the main body of the share, as is clearly shewn by the
Drawings, in the same way as the share is ordinarily fixed on to the nose
of the frame or body of the plough.
What we claim as respects these parts of our Invention arc, forming
ploughshares of a cast body with a steel plate or plates rivetted or
fastened to their upper surfaces, substantially as above described. Also
forming cast shares with a separate and renewable nose or point,
substantially as above described.
Also according to our Invention we pass the draught iron of ploughs
through a guide, with a vertical stem secured by a screw clip to a
socket piece, which can be set in any desired position on an arc in
which the plough beam terminates. The adjustment of the draught
bar both vertically and horizontally is thus very readily obtained. The
draught iron of the plough, shewn at Figures 4 and 5, is thus passed
through a guide, which can be adjusted both vertically and laterally.
In these Figures w is the draft iron, to the forward end of which the
draft chain is attached, and which at its rear end is jointed to the ploughi
beam is the guide, through which the forward end of the draft bar
is passed; x¹ is the vertical stem of the guide, which is secured by a
screw clip in a socket piece x, which also can be secured to any desired

page_text: point of the horizontal bar or are y at the forward end of the plough
beam.
What we claim as respects this part of our Invention is, the passing
the draft iron of ploughs through a guide, which can be adjusted both
vertically and laterally, substantially in the manner above described.
If it be desired to subsoil or stir the sole of the plough furrow we
employ a subsoil tine fixed to the extremity of a bar, which is jointed
at its other end to the lower part of the plough frame or body or
otherwise, so as to be close down upon the sole of the furrow that the
tine which is curved may be able to draw itself into the land.
Figure 13 shews a subsoil tinc carried as above described by a bar ≈,
which is jointed to the lower part of a plough body, and also shews the
tine to be curved so that it may draw itself into the ground. When
thus carrying a tine from the rear of a plough body, the tinc may be
arranged to be lifted out of the land at the same time that the plough
is raised, to enable the implement to be turned at a headland by the
movement of the mechanism employed for lifting the plough. For
example, when the plough is raised out of the ground by depressing
sledges or wheels carried by arms on an axis mounted transversely
across the plough frame, the axis may have a quadrant upon it, to which
is attached the end of a chain, which at its opposite end is connected to
the bar carrying the tinc, so that when the axis is turned to lower the
wheels or sledges the tine shall be simultaneously raised. The same
chain may also serve to limit the extent to which the tine shall be
allowed to enter the land.
What we claim as respects this part of our Invention is, the mounting
a tine on a bar which is jointed to the lower part of a plough body,
or which is otherwise mounted, so that it may lie close down to the side
of the furrow, substantially as above described.
The leading furrow wheel we mount on an arm projecting forward
from a vertical axis, which can be set higher or lower at pleasure by
means of a collar clipped upon it between its bearings, which are also
adjustable in a similar manner along a horizontal bar. A long steering
handle is fixed on the upper end of this axis, and extends back to the
rear of the plough. The pin or axle of the leading furrow wheel of the
plough, shewn at Figures 1 and 2, is shown to be thus carried by an
arm projecting forward from a vertical axis at the forward end of the

page_text: plough frame. (1) is the leading furrow wheel carried by the arm (2),
which projects forward from the vertical axis (3). On this axis is a
long steering handle (4), by which the axis can be turned and be locked
by a suitable catch (not shewn) in any desired position. By moving
this steering handle the wheel (1) can be moved inwards or outwards,
and the width of the furrow cut by the leading plough thus adjusted.
What we claim as respects this part of our Invention is, the mounting
the axis of the leading furrow wheel of ploughs on an arm projecting
forwards from a vertical steering axis, substantially as above described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Richard Hornsby and James Edwin
Phillips, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Tenth day
of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-one.
RICHARD HORNSBY.
(L.S.)
JAMES EDWIN PHILLIPS. (L.S.)