IMPROVED SINGLE SEED DRILLING OR DIBBLING MACHINERY
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Revis, late of Cambridge, in the
County of Cambridge, but now of Stockwell, in the County of
Surrey, Agricultural Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
SINGLE SEED DRILLING OR DIBBLING MACHINERY."
Sealed the 28th June 1853, and dated the 28th April 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Revis
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 28th April 1853.
I, THOMAS REVIS, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVED SINGLE SEED DRILLING OR DIBBLING MACHINERY" to be as
follows, viz.
My Invention consists in or has reference to improved drilling or
dibbling machinery for planting seed singly, or one at a time. (See also
application for Patent, No. 689, in 1852.). The droppers for dropping
the seed singly are, in the hand dibblers, made to act by means of a
lever, having its head or handle near to the handle of the dibbler; and
by this means the mouth of the droppers will be opened just wide enough
to deposit a single seed; and thus the operator, by this arrangement,
can hold and work the dibbler with the same hand, which will enable

page_text: him to use two dibblers at one and the same time, that is, one in each
hand. In this case the lever aforesaid acts by suitable mechanism, so
as to allow only a single seed to issue from the mouth of the dibbler at
one time. Thus, as in the case of the machinery the subject of the
former application, the tubes of the dibblers are to be made in parts
attached together by up and down joints, the funnel or reservoir de-
signed to hold the seed being on the top of the tube. The two irons or
handles, called the lifting and holding irons, are sunk in and screwed to
the inside of the tube, extending and passing through the top of the
funnel. A metal clasp is fixed on the holding iron, with an orifice at
the other end, through which the lifting iron passes, and is prevented
from springing when in action. The metal portion of the tube is
at the bottom, in two halves, of a pointed end, having a shoulder
which is screwed to, the shoulder of the tube. The tubes, when in
halves, have two pieces of metal, one for each half of the tube, of a
semicircular shape, corresponding with the size of the inner circle of
the tube: these pieces of metal are placed exactly opposite each other
in the tube, flush with the top of it, and secured firmly from the outer
side of the tube. The picce intended for the side of the lifting iron
is designated the receiver, being cut in an oblong shape, and deepened
at the bottom end, to receive the seed; this cavity thus formed is left
very smooth. As already stated, the other piece of metal should be
placed exactly opposite in the other half tube of the holding iron, and
which is denominated the "strike," as it performs the office of keeping
back the overplus seed on the return of the lifting iron. Instead of the
above may be used a piston, passing up and down through the strike,
receiving its action from a stud fixed in the up and down tube. It
should be borne in mind that in most cases of single deposits, the seeds
should be sifted, that as uniform size as possible may be obtained.
And this machinery will be found extremely serviceable when
applied to proper machine drills.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Thomas Revis, in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 24th October 1853.
:
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
THOMAS REVIS, late of Cambridge, in the County of Cambridge, but
now of Stockwell, in the County of Surrey, Agricultural Machinist,
sendi greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eight day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Revis, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Revis,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such other's as I, the said
Thomas Révis, my executors, administrators; and assigns, should at
any time agrée with, and no others; from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term therein" expressed, should and law-
fully night make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention for "IMPROVED SINGLE SEED DRILLING OR DIBBLING MA-
CHINERY," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas
Revis, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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.
41
1
'NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Revis, do hereby declare
the nature
of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:
it-ri
-
My Invention consists in or has reference to improved drilling or
dibbling machinery for planting seed singly, or one at a time. The
droppers for dropping the seed singly are made to act by means of a
lever or lifter, having its head or handle near to the handle of the

page_text: dibble, and by this means the mouth of the dropper will be opened just
wide enough to deposit a single seed, whilst by this arrangement of the
handles the operator can hold and work the dibbler with the same
hand, which will enable him to use two dibblers at one and the same
time, that is, one in each hand. In this case the lever or lifter afore-
said acts by suitable arrangements, so as to allow only a single seed to
issue from the mouth of the dibbler at one time. The tubes of the
dibblers are to be made in parts attached together, as hereafter set-
forth, the funnel or reservoir designed to hold the seed being on the
top of the tube. The two irons or handles, called the lifting and hold-
ing irons, are secured to the tube, and extend and pass through the
top of the funnel. The tubes made in halves have two pieces of
metal or other suitable material, one for each half of the tube, of a
shape corresponding with the size of the inner circle of the tube; these
pieces of metal are placed exactly opposite each other in the tube, flush
with the top of it, and secured firmly to the tube. The piece intended
for the side of the lifting iron is designated the "receiver," and has a
cavity formed therein to receive the seed, as hereafter set forth; and the
cavity thus formed is left very smooth. The other piece of metal
should be placed exactly opposite in the other half tube of the holding
iron, and which is denominated the "strike," as it performs the office
It
of keeping back the overplus seed on the return of the lifting iron.
should be borne in mind that in most cases of single deposits, the seed
should be sifted, that as uniform a size as possible may be obtained. In
the case of wheat sowing or planting, I prefer to make the cavity of an
oblong shape, and somewhat larger or deepened at the bottom, in order
to adapt it to the shape of the grain. It is obvious that the above
described mechanism may be adapted (a number combined together) to
machine drills. And for the better exemplification of my said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I have annexed
the Sheets of Drawings, herein-after referred to.

page_text: vertical section taken across the middle of the two halves of the tube;
Fig. 3, a partial transverse vertical section, shewing the dibbler in the
position it would appear when in the act of depositing a seed in the
ground; Fig. 4, interior view of that half of the dibbler attached to the
lifting iron, shewing particularly the working side or face of the receiver,
as fixed in it; Fig. 5, interior view of that side of the dibbler attached
to the holding iron, shewing particularly the working side or face of the
strike, as fixed in it; Fig. 6, plan of the tube at A*, B*; Fig. 7, plan
taken at C*, *D, shewing particularly the upper surfaces of the receiver
and the strike. In the said Figs., A, is the holding iron; B, the lifting
iron; A', the half of the tube or body of the dibbler which is attached to
the holding iron; A, and B', the half attached to the lifting iron B. The
lifting and holding irons respectively are secured to the top of their half
of the tube by being let into the thickness thereof, and screwed thereto.
by screws, as exhibited; and at these points of junctions are placed the
two seed regulators C, denoting the receiver, and D, the strike, as
aforesaid. These may, however, if preferred, be placed lower down, in any
convenient part of the tube. E, denotes the up and down joints which
attach the two parts of the tube together, and yet allow them to move
up and down against each other to the desired extent. F, is the funnel
or reservoir fixed to the half tube A', at its top, and also serving to
secure together both portions of the tube, allowing the half B', to slide
within it.
In Sheet 2, Fig. 1, is an external view of another of my improved
dibblers, when constructed principally of iron or other suitable metal;
Fig. 2, a transverse vertical section across the middle of the two halves of
the tube; Fig. 3, a transverse vertical section, shewing the dibbler in
the position it would appear when in the act of depositing a seed in the
ground; Fig. 4, interior view of that half of the dibbler attached to the
lifting iron; Fig. 5, interior view of that half of the dibbler attached to
the holding iron; Fig. 6, a plan of the tube taken at A*, *B; Fig. 7, a
plan taken at C*, *D, shewing particularly the upper surfaces of the
"receiver" and the strike. It will be observed that the dibbler shewn in
these last-mentioned Figures is very similar to the dibbler previously
mentioned; I have therefore placed similar letters of reference upon the
corresponding parts in both Sheets of Drawings. The principal points of

page_text: difference (beyond the material of which the body is constructed) are as
follows:-The "receiver" C, has its groove or recess formed or shaped
so as to be particularly adapted for sowing wheat; so as to receive one
and only one grain at each operation. Instead of the "up and down"
joints, rings or clasps E*, E*, are substituted, which are rivetted or
fixed to the half tube A', and allow the half tube B', to slide or work
within them. And another important point of difference is, that the
holding iron A, is furnished with a spring catch Z, which, when the
halves of the tube are directly opposite each other, fit into a notch in
the holding iron.B, as shewn in Figs. 1, and 2, so as to prevent the half
tube B, from becoming raised or lifted, when pressed into a stiff or
hard soil, before it is purposely raised or lifted as it is intended to be,
(after the tube has been pressed into the soil to the required depth,) by
removing the catch Z, out of the notch, and pulling upwards the hold-
ing. iron B, but which operations may be performed by one of the
fingers of the same hand which grasps the handle of the holding
iron A. The position of the tubes and catch is shewn in Figure 3.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I do not claim the
constituent parts of the before-described drilling or dibbling machinery,
when taken separately and apart from the purposes and intentions
thereof; what I do claim being the improved drilling or dibbling ma-
chinery for planting seed singly, or one at a time, herein-before set forth
and described, or any merely immaterial variation thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Revis, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
three.
Signed & sealed in my presence,
F. W. CAMPIN,
THOMAS REVIS. (L.S.).
Patent Agent, 156, Strand.